


The Fire's Rise

by Frankenshroom



Series: The Fire's Rise (2) [1]
Category: Original Work, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Beating, Demigods, F/F, F/M, Game of Thrones-esque, Gay, Gay Male Character, Jungle, Legendary Pokemon - Freeform, Love, M/M, Meditation, Minor Character Death, Multi, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, POV Female Character, POV Multiple, Pantheon - Freeform, Pokemon - Freeform, Pokemon Battle, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Journey, Smoking, Swordfighting, Swordplay, Swords & Sorcery, Torture, Weed, Wordcount: 100.000-150.000, Wordcount: 50.000-100.000, beach, my world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-06-19 14:16:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 111,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15511659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frankenshroom/pseuds/Frankenshroom
Summary: The Fire's Rise





	1. Grief and Loathing

Eva Kallavastiir

27th of Iath

Grief and loathing

 

None who survived the fight would dare to call either of the Kellavastiir sisters cowards. They fought tooth and nail and, between them, must have taken out at least seventy soldiers before Groudon overwhelmed the fight like the ancient earth god he was. During the chaos of the beast awakening, three arrows sunk into Helva’s back, not five feet away from Eva. After she saw this, she turned to find the faces of the men who killed her sister and she would remembered those faces till the day she died.

The pain of losing Helva sent her into a blind rage. She killed dozens more on her own, trying to guard the body of her beloved sister, but knowing a losing fight when she saw one, Eva scooped up her sister’s axe and ran for safety. She didn't follow the other Thuusains back to the inner keep. Eva ran through the forest and lost her pursuers by running to a tall tree and climbing up it. She hid in the tree for hours before feeling confident enough to set up a small camp by a nearby stream. Eva fished for her dinner with no success. She assumed the loud sounds of her sniffles and occasional outbursts of rage and sorrow scared off all the fish. So she went hungry for the night and cried herself to sleep, trying to suppress memories of her sister. They were the best of friends and had fought together since they could walk. In their home country of Olovaskaad, they were heros of war and champions: the two biggest, strongest and smartest warriors their small but fierce northern island nation had seen in hundreds of years. When they were slapped around like little children by the elf prince, Eva never showed it, but it damaged her confidence heavily. Since her sister was now dead…

She hung onto this thought for a long while before continuing on. She couldn't ask Helva if she felt this too.

 

Eva spent the next few days venturing through the forest slowly. She killed one elk and it was enough food to keep her going the whole time she traveled. Surviving this forest was trivial. It didn’t match the legends of the Wastes, but Eva knew this was due to the fact that the Legendary pokemon Groudon was tearing the place apart. The only reason she was able to find the elk was due to the fact it had broken its leg sprinting away - she found it, put it out of its misery, and prepared it for traveling meat. An old tradition of Olovaskaaden folk was to always carry around a bag of salt. Some used it to quell the snow and survive the deep wild in winter. Some would keep it in strategic pouches and would unleash hand fulls in the midst of combat. Others would slowly season their meals with it. Eva was able to use it cure this venison and dry cook it into a long lasting food.

Between her dried meet and some berries and nuts she found along the way, Eva remained in good spirits and traveled quickly, finding her way to the western edge of the forest in four days. She would have gone quicker if not for the extra large axe she bore on her back the entire time, but Helva had children and a home back in Fadrenruk. They needed this trinket to help fuel their vengeance. Eva was going to go back home and raise an army against the Galavadren threat. She was going to fight those three archers and give them each a long slow painful death.

  


At the edge of the forest, she continued along the tree line to stay in the shade a while longer. She walked for hours looking for any sign of civilization. The whole time she journeyed, she couldn't help but grieve for her sister. They had so many memories together in their 28 years, but she couldn’t stop thinking about what they would never have again.

After a while, rocks started to appear, scattered a few hundred feet away from the tree line. They started out few and far between, but slowly grew in frequency and size. Another half hour passed and the rocks became a tall cliff face allowing Eva to walk in the grass away from the trees. She walked on for another forty minutes or so until she heard a small trickle of water coming from the cliffside, but it wasn't water.

It was clearly a yellow stream of piss. She looked up and saw a man hundreds of feet up, relieving himself over the edge. Eva knew it was too high to call up for him, but if there was someone up there, maybe there was a road that would lead her somewhere civilized. It didn’t take her long to map out a route to climb. With the aid of her two folded and master-forged-steel weapons, she climbed the cliff face with decent speed. By the time Eva reached the top the pisser was long gone, but just as she suspected, in front of her about five hundred feet away was a long curve in a dirt road. She followed the road for a day and a half before coming across the first road sign. This worried Eva

“How big is this fucking place?” she thought, growing anxious as she leaned in to read the sign.

 

 Haystacks Rest 22 miles

Seaworth Castle 158 miles

Valraia’s Stand 650 miles

 

Eva wondered if Valraia’s Stand was a capital, or a least a very large city, to be marked from so far away. A twenty two mile walk wouldn’t normally be so bad, but being alone with her grief for the hours it would take to reach Haystacks Rest would be nothing short of torturous. She decided to cut her time by jogging as far as she could, fully resting on the ground for a while, then continuing her jog. Eva had discovered this to be the fastest way to travel on foot back on Olovaskaad during her training.

Helva had helped her perfect this technique by teaching her how to get the most out each breath. Everytime Eva stopped for a breath and employed this technique, she felt the depth of her unending sorrow. During her jogs and rests, day turned to dusk and the light fell to a softer orange glow.

Although painful, it was effective. She reached the outer farms lands of Haystacks Rest and in the distance she could see the outer wall of the small town. She decided to walk through the stretch of farm lands as to not arise suspicion going past the farmhouses and stables. She walked calmly with her two large weapons and couldn't help but feel a little too intimidating for an out-of-the-way farming town like this. But, she still had gold in her pocket, and she wanted a warm bed for the night.

 

When she reached the gate a man with a country accent holding a simple pike shouted, “Oi! Who goes there?”

 

“I am Eva, Warrior of Olovaskaad. I am tired from a long journey and I’m here to find a hot meal and a warm bed.”

 

Her words clearly struck a chord with the man. He smiled down and said, “Come on in love, we got beds ‘ere, and lots of food.”

 

The gates opened up and she was met with no resistance as she found her way through the quaint streets of this farming town. She walked by closed-down food carts on her way to the inn. It was obviously the inn, for the sign of carved wooden bed on a circular was lit brightly with a candle. When she entered the door of the inn she had to duck slightly to get into the main room,

“Welcome,” the middle aged woman who stood behind the counter said eagerly. Clearly this inn didn't receive very many patrons. Eva wondered if they had ever even seen someone from Olovaskaad.

 

“Hello. I am Eva, and I would like a hot meal a room for the night. The larger the meal the better. I have a long journey ahead of me tomorrow.” Eva spoke with a the voice of a field hand after a twelve hour day of hard work: tired and slightly broken.

 

“Of course my dear, any woman from Olovaskaad is welcome here. I recognized your accent just as soon you spoke. That’ll be 4 gold pieces, and just let me know whenever you want your meal. Chicken, beef, or lamb is what we’ve got tonight. Served with potatoes, roasted carrots, and my homemade bread.”

 

She smiled heartily at her last words. “Lamb please, and I'll take it now with extra bread.” She handed the woman 4 gold pieces and smiled back.

Eva was shown to her room by the woman’s wife. She was only a few years younger, but had much darker skin and clearly wasn't from this region. She was just as welcoming as her wife at the counter.

Eva set her things down in her room and then went down to the bar to wait for her meal. It arrived quickly, and Eva went to town on the enormous shank of lamb, dish of potatoes, and entire loaf of bread. These were truly the most hospitable of people and Eva started to fear what might happen to them once the Galavadren armies spread to this side of the continent. They couldn’t be too far behind her, unless they had other business to attend to in the forest. She enjoyed her meal slowly and listened to the bar folks’ stories and tales. She quite enjoyed her evening, but, soon enough, she had to retire to her room for the evening. She had a nice sleep in the bed they made up for her; the room was small but more than adequate for the night.

She awoke in a sleepy daze after what seemed like years. She walked down to the breakfast that was served: a large feast of eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Maybe Eva would just live here with these two nice woman and serve people food and make their rooms up for them.

Alas, a quaint life would not fill the hole Helva’s death left in her. Only a brutal death for those three Galavadren archers could do that. She said her goodbyes and left the inn, going out into the small streets of Haystacks Rest. She walked along the small village streets and sorrow fell deeply on her soul as memories of home and of Helva poured into thoughts once more. The sorrow on her face must have given her the expression of a seasoned mortician, for every person whose gaze met her own gave her a sympathetic look. She didn't want their fucking sympathy. She wanted her sister back.

Out of nowhere, her sadness was replaced with a white-hot rage that boiled as if both suns were suddenly dropped into the ocean. Her steps turned into stomps and her face contorted with pure fury. She had never felt pain like this before, but she was absolutely sure that those Galavadren dogs would feel this one-hundred fold. The nearby villagers now looked away from her clearly angry face and kept their distance, but before long she was approached by a huge, drunk, dim-looking country man with tanned white skin.

 

“Oi you, what in the ‘ell you doing here?” He walked up to her and nearly missed a step or two. The man was almost 5 inches taller than she was and must have been fed a half cow every week. Now, Eva was already furious, but if there was one thing she hated it was big men who thought they could push the women of this world around.

 

“Not any of your goddamn business, oaf.” She turned her thick chest to face the enormous man's lumbering bulk. For a moment she thought of giving him a swift strike of the ram and ending this before it started. But something inside decided her anger was going to become a spectacle for the small town of Haystacks Rest. The enormous dullard’s face furrowed for a moment before he worked up the brain power to respond.

 

“I ‘on’t like foreign girls, they always got messed up faces. I ‘on’t like big girls either. They fight back too much.” His dumb face curled into a dim evil smile. “But, mostly, i ‘on’t like angry girls they think their problems are so important, an’ they think they got to deal wif real issues like us men.”

Listening to big man speak was like someone reaching inside of Eva and dumping it onto the world. Before she could even process her thought, the ram’s head hammer fell hard and fast on the big idiot’s soft temple. Blood pooled on the dirt road below slowly, and Eva stood there, bloody hammer in hand and axe on her back. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by six city guards with spears and swords pointed at her. Eva didn’t move a muscle and not one of them flinched. Surprising discipline for country folk.

 

“Aye there now, miss. Please set your weapons down and step towards one of us calmly,” one of the bigger guards said with a clearly feigned tone. Eva did not respond. She stood there with her rams head polearm in hand and stared at the ground with intense focus. She couldn't think, she couldn't move, her body was being controlled by her grief and Eva was sure that this was not going to end well for the farm town’s guards. They all looked to each other for a moment, then began to approach slowly.

Soon, the guards took one step too far towards her as they tried to close in on her. Eva tossed her hammer into the air and swifty grabbed the bottom of it with each hand. She swung it in a wide arc and connected with one man's skull, following through and killing the next man in line. Three of the remaining guards stood there frozen in shock, but one foolhardy young lad charged at her with spear in hand, shouting at the top of his lungs. Eva sidestepped his thrust and brought the backside of her weapon down on the man's head. The curved end of the pick pierced through his neck a moment before it was ripped out.

The other three snapped out of it. One threw his spear at Eva. The other two ran at her with swords drawn. She smacked the spear out of the air with the side of her weapon then ducked beneath two arcing sword strikes. She rose up from her duck with an uppercut to one of the man's chins, brutally shattering his skull from the chin up. The other man swung out of his first arc with a second and caught Eva on the shoulder, cutting her long and deep. Her counter attack came swiftly. She punched the man in the throat before rearing back and bashing his skull in.

Eva stood there bleeding and splattered in the blood of the guards from the quaint farming town. Before she knew it, people started to come out and see the what the noise was. Then the screams started to happen.

 

She heard someone shout, “Send word to Seaworth!! All our guards have just been murdered!”

 

Eva couldn’t see the face of the person who shouted. She was still so wrapped up in her anger and grief that her mind was a raging storm of emotions she couldn’t focus on the mob slowly forming behind her. She snapped out of it just as the mob was in sprinting distance of her. She ran at breakneck pace away from the town, still dripping in blood.

  
  
  
  
  



	2. A Rude Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fire's Rise

Thaedres

4th of Delroth, 751 A.O.

A Rude Awakening

 

Theadres’s hair blew in the wind like a golden streak of light as his Arcanine rode through the endless field of tall grass. Hayleta was behind him, holding onto his waist tightly and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. The two of them bathed in the soft golden sunlight and Thaedres felt pure warm peace emanating from every inch of him. As he rode however, the heat became intense and blistering. The image of Hayleta faded away into sand, his skin began to bubble and burst with searing pain, his eyes became like two suns inside his skull, causing the pain to explode. He rode through a fiery dessert in agony into a bright point of light at the horizon.

Thaedres’s eyes sprang open from his dream. He struggled against an unknown ailment to move his limbs and chest but managed to move his neck from side to side with full control of his head. He couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black except for small slits of torch light shining from the direction his feet were facing. The soft rumble of wheels on a cobblestone road could be heard clearly from below. He must have been in a crate - one being pulled on a chariot or wheel cart. Loud voices laughed and cheered heartily from the same direction, but slightly farther up. From what Thaedres could hear, there were three talking and laughing. 

“I can’t believe it. We thrashed those elves and forest fuckers.”

 

“Yeah, but you gotta give credit to our Lady Akiva. Her plans and schemes led us to such an easy victory. Well, that and the audacity of Uvara to put Greenwood right on top of the resting place of our lord, Groudon.”

 

“She’s as bold as she is stupid.” They all erupted into laughter, masking the small, stifled noise of Theadres holding back anger.

 

“And this one! We were warned and warned about “The Young Elf,” but he was taken down by one saboteur with a poisoned blade.”

 

“Hey, do you think he can hear us?”

 

“Bah, he's gonna be out for weeks. By the time this one’s awake, we will be deep in the Demon’s Sand. I don't know how well he will do in a desert. Maybe he’ll die before the other prisoners get to him.”

 

“That would be a shame.” They all laughed again.

  
“I bet those animals would eat him alive, leave him a drooling pile on the floor.” Their mirth continued for a while after this. Thaedres wondered why they would think he would still be out from the poison. Did they not realise that elves have a much greater constitution against poisons and diseases? This could prove useful if he ever got the use of his body back. 

They rode on like this for hours, the guards joking and taunting the already-defeated Thuusains the entire ride until they got to a natural spring not far off the road. They unhooked the unseen animals pulling the cart, which Thaedres suspected were just horses, and the beasts began to drink loudly. During their ride to the spring, Thaedres started to feel more life back in his body, and could now shimmy gently side to side with his whole torso and his arms, it was only a matter of hours until he was at full strength and could plan an escape. 

The men decided to stop and make camp at this stream, for it was a good ways off the road. There were only three of them and they all spoke of concerns about being ambushed by stragglers from the battle. They moved the crate containing Theadres and it caught him off guard. He nearly gasped when it happened, but a quick slap to the mouth made him stay silent. They set his crate down uncomfortably far from the fire, but this wasn't the worst sleep he had had, and it definitely wouldn't be his worst to come. 

He was awoken by the taunting smell of breakfast meat and eggs being cooked directly next to him, yet still he had to remain silent and still like a corpse. 

“Hey Oleg, how can he survive being out for so long? Doesn’t he need to eat?” One man said to another.

 

“Nah. The poison shuts down his system and puts him in kind of an emergency state in his body.” Oleg replied flatly before taking another loud bite.

 

“How do you know this?” The third man chimed in with food in his mouth. Thaedres’s stomach was killing him.

 

“Akiva told me. I was the one who gave it to the saboteur squads. She invented it, you know? Gods, she is amazing. So tall and beautiful, yet strong and brilliant. We are truly blessed with such an amazing leader.” The other two men muttered relaxed agreement. Who the hell was this woman to inspire such devoted followers, even after she destroyed the greatest natural marvel of the world? Thaedres’s emotions turned into dark storms of anger and fear, to quell these dark thoughts and deadly emotions he decided to meditate in his captivity. Days could have passed without it affecting Thaedres in his current state, but the cart carrying him and the three Galavadrens only rode for a day and a half before the reached the port town of Seaworth Castle. Thaedres’s attention was stolen from his meditation when he heard a conversation between the soldiers

“Why did we have to come here, to fucking Seaworth? Couldn't we have rode with the caravan back to Galavadra and taken a big comfy ship all the way to Idgyos? And why aren't we taking the Young Elf back to the Iron coast? Wouldn't he be just as imprisoned as if he were in the dessert?” the man who questioned Oleg before continued with his inquiries.

 

“Well, if you shut your mouth, maybe I can answer one of your gods be damned questions. We are here at Seaworth to board a ship that was pre-arranged to meet us here at this small port. We could go back to Galavadra, but Akiva doesn’t want the elf to wake up before we get to the desert, and we are not taking the elf to Galavadra because they will come to rescue him and if the remaining Thuusains come to the Iron coast they will see… too much. Not to mention selling an elf prince to the Idgyocy will barter quite the alliance” 

 

His final words seemed to strike a chord with the other two and they became deadly silent for a while. They rode into town from the long winding road down the gray stone cliff side. The path was old and narrow but they rode down it comfortably; the cart was built clearly by the hands of masters. Thaedres was coming to learn that these Galavadren’s were well-prepared for this conquest. Clearly everything was planned by this Akiva, whoever she was. 

The town was decently-sized from what Thaedres could tell inside his wooden crate, and from what he could hear it was alive all throughout. He heard people shouting advertisements for their food, jewelry, clothing, knives, swords, and dozens of other things. Thaedres had never been to a port city like this and he was beginning to become furious that he was experiencing it for the first time from inside a crate. The salty fresh smell of the sea air was the most enticing smell he thought he would ever experience. 

It took them about twenty minutes to ride through the port town, but they were delayed by Thaedres’s three captors stopping for some lard fried chicken, or at least that’s what it smelled like. When they reached the actual port of the town, the three men left the cart to go and talk to someone. Thaedres could tell they were only yards away from the sea. The smell was killing him. Thaedren had always promised to take him to the ocean, but he had always said he was waiting for something that wouldn't happen until his 23rd lifeday. But he was here, he was right here, so close to the ocean, and according to the Galavadrens he would be on a boat soon, a first he was saving for when the Thuusains finally went to investigate the pirates Thaedren and Judgio were so worried about. The soldiers came back sounding satisfied.

“Thirty minutes and the boat will be here, just enough time

to snag some more of that fired jiko fish.” Oleg said, trailing off as the men walked back to the town. Thaedres had full use of his legs now. He could maybe break his way out, but he would be banging and smashing it for a while and that would make a lot of noise during the middle of the day and the port was as busy as ever. These folks were not allied with the Galavadrens, otherwise they would have had a warmer welcome. He had absolutely no idea what the reaction of the sailors and merchants would be if he started banging and breaking out of a crate that most would assume would be filled with some sort of trade good. This wasn’t his time for escape. He knew that if it would come, it would feel more opportunistic. So he decided on meditating further. It was the easiest way to quell his hunger and suppress his anxious thoughts, so he slipped into thoughtless, waking sleep, waiting for the guards to return. 

Thirty minutes went by fast in meditation, and when the Guards returned, they sounded satisfied and over-stuffed with fried food. This was a good sign. The three of them heaved and lifted the box containing Thaedres and he went stiff as a corpse. The boat must have been a decent size, for they had to set the crate down and rest five times before descending the staircase into the hold, where they set the crate down among many others.

 

“For fuck’s sake, couldn’t we have removed his armor before putting him in there?” 

 

“Akiva wanted to save it. His fancy sword is in there too.” Oleg replied.

 

“Isn't that, you know, a terrible idea? What if he wakes up and breaks out? Then he's fully armored and wielding his sword and then we and everyone on this ship is fucked,” the man said back, sounding annoyed or worried. Thaedres couldn't tell. 

 

Oleg laughed before replying, “I asked the same thing to Akiva and she punched me in the stomach before telling me that the poison she concocted would do more to the elf than just knock him out for a while. It’s gonna drain his strength. By the time he's awake, he will be no stronger than my six year old.” 

 

They laughed together as they walked away and up to the deck of the ship. Was this true? Was the poison actually draining his strength? He flexed all the muscles he could and they felt no different. Maybe this wasn't a good enough test, or maybe Akiva's poison was not designed quite right. After all, he was awake several weeks early, according to what the guards had been saying about their journey. If this was the case, then maybe Thaedres alone could get a leg up on the Galavadren. 

First thing first, he head to escape this crate without alerting any of the men on this ship. They would set sail soon and his crate was on the far side of the ship from cabins and sleeping quarters. This was all good news. If they hit a storm, he could break his way out quickly and quietly, and if the storm was intense, he could take out a few men while they struggled with the ropes and masts. This meant he could not slip into any more meditation. He needed to be fully ready when the time came. The ship set sail an hour or so after his crate was put down in the cargo bay, the ship sailed slowly at first but a good ways out the winds picked up heavily and the boat along with it. From what Thaedres knew of the world, this trip would take about two and half weeks. Did Akiva really expect her poison to keep him out for three weeks? 

Hopefully an ample opportunity would present itself soon. The sooner he got off this ship, the closer he would be to home. Maybe Uthethry would remain out of this conflict and he could wait there for word from an ally. He shook his head almost imperceptibly. There was no way they wouldn’t explore the whole forest and Uthethry was less than hidden. Maybe the survivors of the battle fled to the ships and set sail. He thought about his options long and hard during the hours of isolated contemplation. 

They hit no treacherous waters nor even a hint of them for the first four days of sailing. Thaedres found it easier to fall asleep in a crate than he thought it would be. The dark and the warmth helped him into a long dreamless sleep. 

He awoke to a wave crashing against the side of the ship on the fifth morning of being in the gods-forsaken crate. It must have been noon and the waves were picking up and so was the wind. It was very noisy on the deck of the ship. This could be the opportunity he was waiting for. 

Everyone was hard at work. He could break out, then catch them by surprise. He started to listen for a pattern or a cadence in their work - some sort of reliable noise he could hide his strikes behind. It took him three minutes or so to find the pattern, but he did. And every minute or so, he bashed his palm against the flat of the wooden boards above him with the sound of waves crashing against the ship. Soon enough, the wood splintered before he broke through the crate, grabbed his sword, unwrapped it’s cloth casing, and began to silently stretch. 

He had the advantage of surprise, but there must have been thirty sailors on this ship. He had no idea how they were armed or if they were with another ship sailing alongside them. Was this attempt at overthrowing the ship foolhardy? 

Ankalees had once told Thaedres that he had never known someone to be so smart, cunning, strong, swift, and such an untameable force when it came to fighting, and Anaklees was a great hero of the Thuusains, almost as renowned as Judgio himself. Thaedres’s confidence swelled back inside him. Remembering his teachers words, he crept towards the stairs and began to listen intently. There were five men close to the top leading onto the deck. He doubted any of them had weapons on them and taking out an initial five would be very helpful if this were to be a thirty-on-one fight. He ran up the stairs with blinding speed to where they were hauling barrels of bundled rope. It took him less than two seconds to dispatch the five swift strikes of his green-and-gold sword. Before anyone on the ship noticed, he sprinted silently to the a corner underneath another staircase going up, and stood in a slight crouch looking at the five corpses. Eight more long seconds passed before someone noticed the bodies.

 

“Mutiny,” he screamed. Oleg, the captain, and dozens of sailors ran over to look at the bodies. Oleg and the captain took a quick look around and then counted up all their men, including the dead five.

 

“But we have all been accounted for? And no one could kill these five that fast without making a sound. Derek over there,” he gestured to one of the bodies, “was our best fighter!”

 

Oleg and the captain looked to each other then ran down into the hole and the sailors followed, leaving fifteen or so on top of the deck, muttering among each other and looking worried. Thaedres took immediate action. He stabbed a small hole in the barrel to his right and gave the hole a big whiff. He was in luck: it was definitely flammable. He grabbed the barrel by the top and bottom, lifted it then rolled it the small distance down the stairs into the bay. Thaedres didn’t know much magic because Anaklees didn't know much and didn't teach him much, but one of the things he was taught was a simple fire blast from his hand for almost this exact situation. He launched the blast from his left hand and then sprinted at the closest sailor, sword drawn. There must have been more barrels of explosives in the cargo hold because the blast almost tore the ship in half. 

Thaedres caught himself before he fell over from the blast. Several of the men fell overboard and no one in the cargo hold could have survived that explosion, so Thaedres made quick work of the remaining twelve sailors. They fought with small axes or cutlasses and without the skill of good training. In most cases he just swatted away their attack and then killed them with a quick counter. One of them managed to block his counter and then three additional attacks, but one feint led to his quick death. The fire from the hold burned hotter, louder, and bigger as he fought, and by the time Thaedres killed the last man, almost the entire ship was engulfed. 

Thaedres looked around with swiftly-searching eyes and spotted a raft on a pulley system behind him on the side of the ship. He tossed his sword in and before getting in himself, he grabbed six unburned barrels of supplies. Then the elf got into the larger-than-usual raft, sliced the ropes, and fell to the water. One of the barrels fell into the ocean and he didn't have time to retrieve it.

But, he had gotten away, paddling towards an island far off in the horizon. He wondered if the sailors could even see it with their human vision. The water was still rough, but Anaklees’ practical magic studies proved useful yet again as Thaedres quelled the water in front of him, giving him a soft and safe passage to the island. From what it looked like, it was a pretty small island. Hopefully it wouldn't be inhabited, for few were here in the the Diamond Sea. Hopefully he could set up camp and if the Thuusains were close, he could signal to them with a fire. Then he started to think of what Galavadra would do once they found out their ship was destroyed and Thaedres had escaped. Would they search the seas? They definitely had a navy, being a coastal nation, but, if he were Akiva, what would he do about this?

 

Thaedres spent the first day finding a spot on the island to safely rest and store his barrels of goods, which he hoped had something useful, for he had had no time to check his loot in the growing fire that he caused on the ship. It took him nearly till nightfall dragging around all six of his barrels tied with some rope, but he found a small indent in a cliffside near the center of the island. It was twenty feet deep and about half as tall. With his barrels against one wall and a fire set up opposite to them, the small cave became quite cozy.  Thaedres could not help but feel slightly blessed at finding such a good spot. 

Before he turned in for the night, he set out to make a cover for the front entrance of his cave, which was slightly smaller than the inside. He strung bunches of leaves through long woven grass to make a sort of curtain. He made four more of these and them fastend them to the top of his cave from the inside by chipping small holes in the cave wall and tying the grass and leaf curtains to sticks jammed into the small holes. When his cave was secure and warm and very well-hidden from the outside, he felt comfortable relaxing and looking in his barrels for some food. He was more than in luck. One barrel was full to the brim with salted and cured pork, the other barrel with nothing but fresh fruit. Two of the other three had dried rice and some sort of seed Thaedres didn’t recognize. In the last one he found compressed and tightly-packed wool as he chewed a mouthful of the fruit. He spent most of the night drawing himself a mock map on the wall with a bit of chipped stone. He didn’t know exactly how far out this little island was in the Diamond Sea, but based on the speed of the ship and the four days in captivity, he thought his estimation was fairly accurate. Soon the fire dimmed, his eyes grew heavy and weary, and with his stomach freshly satisfied he slipped into a calming warm sleep. 

  
  


Suddenly, he was in a desert riding an Arcanine at top speed. Anaklees was next to him on his own enormous maned hound. They rode away from a monolithic building, casting a long shadow which they rode through. They were being chased. The two large, striped hounds sprinted with terrified speed, causing the sand beneath their mighty paws to fly dozens of feet back with each step. The thing behind them made horrible low rumbling noises that shook the earth and struck fear deep in the heart of the two elven riders. It grew nearer with each titanic step of its massive bulk. Thaedres’ heart pounded as the thing got closer and closer. They ran outside the shadow of the building behind them but only rode in the sunlight for a moment before the shadow of the beast engulfed them. Thaedres turned around just in time to see his own death as a massive sand-colored bulk fell on his head and he woke in a cold sweat. 

 

His heart pounded and his head throbbed fiercely. He had never had a dream so vivid and terrifying in his entire life. Thaedres had always had intense dreams, but none had ever been so painful and horrific. He decided to eat a piece of fruit to calm his nerves and maybe quell his headache. The juices of the fruit helped his headache some, but he didn't have any water, which would truly solve this issue, so he set out to the beach with the empty barrel that once contained dozens of different kinds of fruits. He couldn’t carry the entire barrel while it was full of water, nor could he drink it in its current state, but Anaklees had taught Thaedres much about surviving the wild if the time were ever to come. 

He filled the barrel about two-thirds of the way up and then walked back to his camp. He was tired after hauling that much water that far, but it was more than necessary for his survival. He set the barrel down and the set out to make himself a tool to dig with. Some carving and effort led him to make a small, shovel-like tool. 

It took him more than a half hour to dig his hole, which was eight feet deep and wide enough for to fit the barrel inside. However, he couldn’t boil the water inside the barrel - it would burn up long before the water was purified. The enchantments on his sword proved quite useful when hacking through the trunk of a large tree miles away from his camp. He wanted to keep his location hard-to-track in case this island was less deserted than it seemed, so he hiked a few miles uphill and found a large tree that had fallen over to hack up. He took his carved-up pieces of wood back to his camp and set them in the cave near the pile of fruit that now lay on the cave floor. 

Then he set out to look for a rock large enough that it could be carved into a bowl for boiling. He couldn't find one before it went dark and by that time he must have been ten miles from his cave. He decided it was time to go back and try tomorrow, the juices of his fruit would sustain him for the night. When he got back to the cave, he decided to pile up some leaves for a better sleeping spot. It took him no time at all to get to sleep after he downed three small blue citrus fruits and a medium-sized slab of slow cooked pork.

 

He stood alone in a cave with walls that were too far away to be seen. The cave was dark as pitch. He walked slowly and his footsteps echoed softly all around him creating a sense of being somewhere immensely large. He walked endlessly through this enormous dark cave surrounded by the deafening sound of silence pierced only by his own footsteps. Thaedres did not know what he was walking towards, or even why he was in this cave, but he knew he had to keep going forward until he found whatever it was he was here for. The cave started to glow light blue low to the ground in naturally-formed patches a ways in front of him. When he reached the patches, he saw they were small pale blue mushrooms with deeper blue splotches strewn across their heads. A noise broke the silence and Thaedres’s head spun around to find the source. He saw nothing for a moment and his hands snapped to his back, where he had a spear secured in a belted sheath. This was odd. Thaedres was trained with a spear, but where was his emerald sword? He didn’t see anything for a long while as he slowly scanned all around him with his spear in hand. He gasped and cried out as he felt a vicious slash against his back and warm blood running down to his thighs and calves

 

He woke gripping at the back of his thighs, checking for blood. Why had his dreams suddenly become so vivid and real? As if they were something more than dreams. He treated himself to extra food for breakfast due to these terrible dreams. After finishing his food, he decided to go looking for that stone again. He still needed a bowl. Before leaving, he made himself a small wrapping of pork and a few fruits. It took him an hour to craft a small satchel with three sticks and several large leaves all tied with long grass. But soon he left his camp with his food pouch strapped and tied to his belt. Walking away from his camp he came across the fork that he had found himself at last time he ventured out for this stone. This time he chose the northern path. He had thought before that the one that lead towards the beach would yield more rocks, but he was mistaken. Perhaps the innards of this island would prove more fruitful, he thought as he took a bite of another blue citrus. This path was uphill and had much more difficult terrain to traverse, but Thaedres trudged along nonetheless. 

It took him three hours to make it to the top of this ridge and when he did he took a short food break with the view of the island from atop this ridge. It was beautiful and even from this height he could not see any settlements or camps, not even a Galavadren scout ship on the coast. He decided this view was another ample opportunity to take a short eating break. He got his fill of fruit and meat and and then ventured further into the mountains of the small island. 

It didn't take long before he found a perfectly-sized rock suited for boiling his water, but a sound struck through to grab his attention from across the ridge a few hundred few in front of him. The sound was that of swords clashing and grunting. It was faint, so he must have been hearing something from quite a ways away, for his ears were quite powerful, even for an elf. He set down his makeshift pack by the rock he was going to take back, then drew his sword from his back sheath and started jogging toward the noise. The mountainous island terrain was nothing compared to the heart of the Verdant Wastes that he grew up running, jumping, and sprinting through with his trainer Anaklees.

He had never really appreciated how prepared he was for the world and all of its troubles and woes, but he thought he would definitely come to love Anaklees and his intense training even more. He must have run for twenty minutes and spanned four miles on his way to the source of the noise. Maybe it was a Galavadren Camp and he could get the jump on them. Maybe it was a bounty hunter who had traced his mark to this island and was now engaging him in a fight, or perhaps it was merely two adventurers who crossed paths and decided they didn’t like the look of the other or the exchanged words and it got heated. Nevertheless, Thaedres was going to find the source. Whether he would engage or not was up to the circumstances.

 

He rounded a large tree and some large rocks at the bottom of a tall formation leading up to a point on his right and saw a man in tan robes with blue trimming fending off a small contingent of undead warriors with a sword. The undead had old-school raider armor from the Heretic age and jagged swords that were mostly broken. The man fended them off fairly well, but he was not the greatest swordsman, not by far, and he was badly outnumbered. Thaedres knew he should help, even if this man was here for himself; a death to the undead was a terrible fate. 

He charged the beasts with sword drawn and closed the gap in a matter of seconds. He arrived with a leaping slash to take out the closest undead warrior and he followed it up with a beheading strike to the next. Two turned their attention towards him and charged, wielding two swords each. The undead fought with no regard for their own safety and used every ounce of strength their host body had. This led to Thaedres having to parry a slew of strong strikes while retreating back. He found an opening and pushed his sword though one attack, finding the creature’s chest then pulling his emerald green blade back just before taking a wide step back to avoid the remaining beasts’ attacks. He reared his arms back to bait the creature into charging, which it did. He stabbed straight through its neck before it was able to make its attack. 

There were still a dozen more undead, all attacking the traveler, but Thaedres’ move caught the attention of half of them. Thaedres charged his enemies and felled two with his initial two strikes. The other four put all of their energy into their attack. He back-peddled while defending the dozens and dozens of swings and stabs. To find his first opening, he decided to use the jungle-esque terrain to his advantage. He turned and sprinted towards a tree behind him, jumping at it and pushing off with his foot, spinning around and taking off one of the beast’s heads with a swift kick and killing another with a falling slash to the dome. He rose up from his strike, blocking an attack aimed at his head. He pushed it aside and struck back harder and faster, killing the beast. The last one nearly got him in the gut with his broken sword after striking Thaedres across the face with his hand, but Thaedres jumped back before the blade hit him. The undead was left open and Thaedres took the opportunity to strike it down with a wide horizontal arch. 

He looked to the man, who had taken out two of the six still attacking him, but his sword arm was bleeding through a clenched hand grip. Thaedres sprinted at the remaining four undead who were clearly getting close to ending the man's life. Thaedres dashed in and cut the remaining four down like grass in a field with four beautifully timed and aimed arching slashes. Another use for his magical training with Anaklees came to fruition as Thaedres’s hand glowed a majestic gold-speckled green and he moved the man’s hand away from the wound, softly touching it with his now-glowing hand. The man made a soft aching noise and winced just before the wound closed up. He stretched his arm around and looked shocked and thankful.

 

“Well now, that’s some good healing magic there, sir, and some fancy green armor to go with it. Not to mention that ridiculous sword play. Just who in the hell are you?” The man spoke in a clearly Galavadren accent, but for whatever reason was smiling intensely at him. Thaedres didn’t feel threatened, but if this man was of the Iron Coast, he was Thaedres’ enemy and would meet a swift fate. 

 

“I’m not sure I should say. You are Galavadren.” Thaedres answered after a pause, completely devoid of emotion

 

“Well  _ was _ would be more accurate now. Name’s Kelvin. I was chased out by Akiva herself. Yeah, she was whipping some kid, and, let me tell you, when I say kid, I mean kid. He couldn’t have been more than twelve. Anyway, she was whipping him because he had stolen a small bag of gold from a merchant. I don't condone stealing by any means, but this was an orphaned child. He didn’t deserve this punishment.” The man started to become filled with anger and looked away from Thaedres’ intense purple eyes. “I leapt in and cut her hand to stop her next swing. I only managed to skin it slightly. Akiva is fast, strong, and terrifying, but I couldn’t listen to those screams any more. Listen to me, rambling on to a stranger.” He suddenly became happy again and met Thaedres’ gaze once more.

 

“No ramblings here, merely a tale told by a new friend and ally. I am Thaedres, prince of the Thuusains. Er, I was, before your old friend Akiva attacked our home, i’m not even sure how many of us fell in the battle. I escaped capture not three nights ago. I've been surviving on this island before I heard the sound of your fight and ran to investigate.” 

 

“Ah, so you’re the Young Elf, eh? Yeah, Akiva had lots of propaganda about you back in Galavadra. Signs and posters calling you a mass murderer and half demon. I knew it was all horse shit from the minute they started focusing on it so hard, ever since Akiva overthrew the Iron Union and declared herself “ **_Grand Countless Of Galavadra_ ** ” it turned into a much different place. Most of the sheep ate it all up and now worship her, but I knew I would be leaving the Iron Coast soon enough.” As he spoke, the man set himself up a small fire and dragged a log up next to it. He pulled a wrapped and skinned bird out of his pack and began to roast it.

 

“Why do you all call me the Young Elf?” Thaedres asked.

 

“Well, I’m not sure I’m one of them anymore, but part of her image of you was that because you are still so young, you will only become more and more deadly. That’s how she got the masses behind her.” He sounded truly sympathetic when saying this. Clearly there were good people from the southern coast of Opiath. 

 

“So when did you get chased off? How long before the invasion of my home?”

 

“About a year before. Yeah, sometime last Iath it happened.”

 

“What brings you so close to Opiath again? You’re not going back to join her again are you?” Thaedres said this in jest, but with a slight hint of hesitation and caution.

 

“Not in this lifetime,” Kelvin said, chuckling, “Nah, I’m here on a sort of fetch quest for some merchant lord up in Delwin. He apparently has use of some magic amulet in this here cave.” He pointed to the cave. Thaedres hadn’t even noticed the dimly lit cave entrance directly behind them. This was not good - he had to be fully aware of his surroundings, as Anaklees taught him to be. But he also didn’t want to blame himself for being enthralled by the man. A runaway from Galavadra was quite a man to meet, since he was almost just captured by them.

 

“And did he happen to mention the undead berserkers with territorial issues?”

 

“Nope. He just happened to leave that fact out. S’alright though, back before I got my ass chased out, I was one of Galavadra’s Wayward Knights. They would send us out on missions like this all the time. Let’s just say this won't be the first undead crypt I work my way through this year. When you love what you do, Thaedres, you never work a day in your life.” He pulled the now-delicious-smelling roasted bird off of its spit and onto a cloth, then with a knife he carved it up into eight pieces and offered some to Thaedres with a gesture while chewing.

“Thank you Kelvin.” He took some poultry and began to eat. He then felt regret about not having his fruits from his pack to enjoy with this meat. “When will you begin your venture through the cave?” 

 

“Well, I was going to sit ‘ere and rest a bit while enjoying my meat. I’ll make my way in after I'm done. You’re welcome to join me if you would like. Sometimes these ancient crypts really chill my spine.” Thaedres was shocked the man would be so quick to ask him something of this caliber. But he was also incredibly enticed by this offer. The first time he had ever even beet outside of the Wastes was just over two years ago. He, Anaklees, Swiftfoot, and Grayskull took a journey to the northern coast of Opiath to deal with a bandit tribe who had grown to significant power and size over several years of raiding local farming villages of Valrain.

It was all-in-all disappointing for a first adventure. The four of them ambushed a group of the bandits on their way back from a hunt while in view of their fort. When the rest ran through the field to come and help them, Swiftfoot summoned a storm of leaves and killed almost all of them instantly in a flurry of edged leaves. This would be more barebones - just Thaedres and his wits with this random disgraced knight: no Pokemon, no magic, just raw strength, speed and skill.

 

“I’m surprised you trust me so readily, Kelvin. After all, we did just meet.”

 

“Aye, you’re right, but when we first met, I was under attack and you saved me from a horrid fate, and then you healed me. I’d say my trust is well-placed, Young Elf.” He smiled at him and offered some more meat. Thaedres accepted the meat and returned the smile.

 

The two of them continued to talk and eat for a while in the warmth of the fire while the sun steadily got lower and lower. They both got their fill of meat and drink from Kelvins waterskin. He summoned some more water to refill it for their journey into the heart of the mountain. They both took a few moments to tighten straps and sharpen their blades before stealing their expressions, nodding to each other, and taking their first steps inside the cave. 

  
  
  



	3. The Reassurance of Incompetence

 

Lady Akiva Za’laia Grand Countess of Galavadra

8th of Delroth 751 A.O.

The reassurance of incompetence

 

Akiva had awoken from her dream in the middle of the night with the loud sound of a large wave crashing against the side of her ship directly where her cabin lied. She wrapped herself in a robe and put on soft comfortable walking shoes of her own design, lined with white fur to make them soft and warm. 

 

She heard a soft sleepy voice call out from behind her, “My lady?” Jayla yawned when Akiva turned to look at her beautiful young captive turned lover and loyal servant. 

 

“It’s alright my sweet, lay your golden locks back down, for it was not but the waves.” The girl looked enchanted and calmly fell back to sleep on the large ornate bed, which was red and trimmed with black and gold.

 

Akiva grabbed a small brass oil lamp and lit it. She tied her robe tighter and, only for the purpose of her own vanity, tied a small belt to her waist with a knife strapped to its side. She knew she was in no danger on her ship, but Akiva always kept up her aura of intimidation, and if anyone else was up at this time, they would not catch her in a softer light. She walked the long metal hull of her flag warship, Titan’s Wrath - named for her best friend and most loyal companion. Her flagship had no masts and no sails, unlike most large warship in the world, so walking across the deck felt much different to the feeling of a wooden deck of a classic sailed ship. Her torch lit her surroundings dimly and broke through the soft fog that had crept up on the massive ship in the night. It took her a while to walk from her cabin towards the stern of the ship to the bow, when she got there she stood at the edge and leaned casually on the railing looking over the salty mass of endless dark blue ocean. The air was warm as they sailed south from the northern coast of Opiath back to Galavadra on the southern coast, commonly known as the Iron Coast. She loved the warmth and started to dread the parts of her campaign that would take her and her armies north. Would these weak southern men be able to survive the harsh cold marches through massive snow drifts and ice caves of Ullduugosh? Akiva had always known that she needed new masters of arms and captains to whip her soldiers into shape, but the last good captain from the Iron Coast died one hundred and fifty years ago at the ripe old age of one hundred and thirty eight. The wealth and comfort of the Galavadrans had bred multiple generations of weak and lazy men who put most of the harder labor positions on the women of her homeland. They fished and hunted, they were the smiths and miners, along with the Aggronkin, they were butchers and masons, they were carpenters and farmers, while the men taught classes and captained merchant ships and held all the soft easy positions they could. Now, it wasn’t all black and white, for there were men of lower class who, due to circumstance, were forced to work the tougher positions, and women who took up higher government positions and became merchant lords themselves. But the balance was far from even. Suddenly, she became angry, wondering why in the hell the old Iron Lords would ever decide women couldn't be in the military. 

 

Her anger bubbled hotter and hotter before she calmly thought to herself, “Soon. Soon I will integrate my army with the strong, powerful, and beautiful women of Galavadra. Then we will be a force to be truly reckoned with. This world will tremble and break under the might of Akiva, and I will build the ruin into the most magnificent kingdom the world will ever know.” She stared firmly across the dark horizon, feeling confident and powerful. She then heard soft footsteps from behind her and turned to see Kuvosh walking towards her, his fire burning quite low and dim.

“Akiva,” he said in his gruff voice as he approached, “I need to speak to you.”

 

“Then speak, my lord.” She spoke curtly and with great respect, even though she had none for the fire lord.

 

“Do you remember when we met?” He walked up to the railing next to her and stared out into the massive azure sea.

 

“When I woke you, you mean?” He paused for a long while, still looking unblinkingly at the ocean.

 

“Yes. You found me in the Demon’s Sand in an old stone temple guarded by a force of knights, you said.” 

 

“That I did.”

 

“And you learned of my imprisonment from an old tome in the keep you grew up in.”

 

“Yes, the Old Iron had an extensive library and, though it took me a while, I found the dusty old book that led me to a great many of things.” She didn’t want to reveal all she had learned from this book. It might change the fire deities opinion of her.

 

“And you said you know of Entei’s imprisonment also.”

 

“I do,” she said very calmly and flatly. This was more than a touchy subject for him.

 

“Yet, we are not on are way there now, are we?”

 

“No, my lord, we are not.” Again her voice stayed flat and confident. He remained silent as he stared out into the dark. Akiva could sense emotion as old as time raging inside him. Natural disaster could erupt from inside him at any moment. Akiva thought quickly; she still couldn't tell him exactly where Entei was, for he would go there immediately, but she also could not tell him why he couldn’t go to save his legendary companion, for his hubris would not let him think rationally about the trap that was set there for him specifically.

 

“My lord, we cannot awaken Entei yet.” This was not true, but it was a necessary lie. “With all the magic we possess, we could not overwrite Uvara’s spell, but, within this year, we will be able to venture to his magical prison to unite you two rightly once again.” Her words seemed to calm to fire lord’s mood. They both stood there for a long while without saying anything or even looking at each other. Kuvosh’s fiery aura kept her very comfortably warm. 

 

“This ship is strange,” he said without emotion as he turned to examine the enormous bulk of the metal ship. He seemed impressed but confused. 

 

“I designed it myself, lord Kuvosh. It runs on a coal engine that powers those three watermill wheels. There is another engine in the front that powers four other wheels towards the front, although they are below where we can see them,” she replied proudly. He didn’t say anything back to this for a while.

 

“How did you do this? It seems as if a marvel designed by old masters?”

 

“well I had help, many engineers and I spent a dozen fortnights in the shop working and toiling with design. I paid them well and let them eat from my private kitchens, so they didn't have much to complain about.”

 

“I see.” Kuvosh said after a brief pause. Akiva half expected the conversation to continue for at least a few more words. But the fire lord glowing in his own light remained silent and stared out at the ocean. 

“I leave you now, Akiva, but know this isn’t the last time I will bring this up.”

 

“I would expect nothing less.” She smiled at him, not expecting one back.

 

He walked off to his corridors quitely, and left Akiva alone on the bow of the ship looking out into the distance. She listened to the crashing waves and felt the salty air against her skin. The sea always made her feel at home and peaceful, like many in Galavadra and many in her family. Her eyes felt heavy and tired. She needed to go back to sleep. The long walk to her cabin was warm and breezy, almost soothing her to a long deep luling sleep. She opened the door and walked down the hall to her chamber, where she saw her young blonde companion sleeping comfortably under the sheets. She disrobed and climbed into the large crimson-clad bed next to her beautiful lover. The young girl woke from the disturbance and then crept up next to Akiva and held tightly onto her side. She pulled up the sheet comfortably over them, surely and slowly falling into deep sleep.

 

Akiva stood on a small red rock plateau above a battlefield in a grassland desert looking down on leagues of female warriors clad in red, black, and white armor, wielding spears and swords, marching in organized rows and columns. They set their columns all facing the same way as Akiva, several groups of soldiers in lighter armor setup trenches, makeshift walls made of thick sharp wooden posts, and three story high towers spread along their forces and archers manned each one. 

Akiva was impressed by their speed and coordination at putting up these defenses and moving so many soldiers so quickly. She couldn’t see what her army was building up against, but she knew it must have been something deadly. They were setting up as if they could be attacked from any angle with the plateau underneath Akiva in the center of it all. For a while, there was no sound but muttering among the warriors and stamping from the battalions of cavalry to each flank. Then, in the distance, a soft rumble was heard rolling across the horizon. The noise faintly grew louder and louder and then they saw them just as the sound of their loud deep horns blared out low. 

Hordes of Tauros mounted by leagues of warriors with painted faces yelling and brandishing curved weapons and spears. They rode at breakneck speed from all angels towards her contingent of warriors and their defensive position. Some of them pulled chariots and dozens of them started launching arrows from the back of their bull mounts, a few of them stuck in the fences and shields of her troops and walls. They were a thousand yards away and Akiva felt pure terror as her warriors became closed in on. Her heart started to race and her hands shook uncontrollably. A captain of her guard shouted as her warriors brandished pikes and charged the enclosing cavalry. Akiva’s vision faded into black.

 

She woke suddenly with a gasp, startling Jayla next to her. Sunlight shone in from behind them, warming the room and bathing her back in the beautiful, radiant sunbeam. 

 

“Are you alright, my lady?” Jayla asked, softly touching Akiva on the small of her back and her shoulder. She sat there, breathing heavily and looking down into her hands.

 

“Just a bad dream, dear.” She stroked her bedmate’s face softly with the back of her right hand then stood up, walked over to her dresser, and began to get ready for the day.

 

“My lady… I don’t want to be a bother, but…” Jayla’s voice trailed off and she looked away.

 

“What is it, love?” She smiled at her young companion kindly. “Do not be afraid to ask anything of me or my subjects. You serve me quite well in my absolute favorite way.” She continued her smile, which now had a coy edge. Jayla blushed heavily and looked away for a moment.

 

“My lady, I’m worried about my position when we reach your country. Will I go back to captivity? Will I serve another lord as I’ve served you? Or be sold to a brothel?” She started to sound slightly panicked or worried. Akiva understood Jayla’s panic and felt sympathy for the young girl and started to laugh with genuine mirth.

 

“No, no, no, dear. Do not be worried. Your place in Galavadra will be that of luxury and wealth. You will stay at my palace and tend to my house. Not by doing any labor,” Akiva said with another chuckle, looking at the expression on the girl’s face, “No, I have servants and workers for that. You will be the one telling them what and when to clean and cook. If you would like a new sculpture you may order one, if you would like new views my people will build you new gardens and parks to enjoy. Galavadra is ever-expanding and now that I lead us instead of the overweight band of morons, we will be growing at an even greater rate. I have confidence you will help with the efforts of beatification and expansion in my country.” Akiva peered out the window of her cabin while putting on her clothing, and then her pieces of armor. Jayla wrapped a sheet around her, climbed of the bed, and began to assist Akiva with her straps, belts, and clips. 

 

She began to speak even softer than before.“But, why me, Lady Akiva? I was your prisoner, a citizen of your defeated enemies. I had assumed I had been chosen to join you in your tent due to my good looks. Why am I being treated so well? What have I done to deserve this?” Jayla’s anxiety seeped back into her speech as she helped Akiva into her beautiful gilded black-and-red armor. 

 

“Well, as I said before, you are quite good at servicing me, and I should know. I have had many before you.” The girl blushed again, brighter and redder than before. “And you’re right, I did choose you out of the other prisoners to continue being my bed mate for your good looks. But, I have come to admire you greatly, my dear. You’re kind and intelligent, you’re funny, and you can keep up with me intellectually, unlike most of the men in my army.” She scowled for a moment after speaking of her men, “So why you? Because I like you, Jayla, and I want to continue fucking you for as long as I live, so I’m going to treat you well for as long as I live. Is that alright?” Akiva asked smugly before standing up to her full height, her armor now fully fastened. She turned to look at her young bedmate after grabbing a band of thin metal and tying her hair with it. She couldn’t help but smile at the girl.

 

“You honor me, Lady Akiva. I will serve you well.” She bowed her head and left it bent for a while. Akiva strode over and gently lifted Jayla’s chin up to look at her.

 

“No more ‘lady,’ from now on, you will call me Akiva. And you already have.” She winked before kissing the young girl’s cheek and walked to the door. “I shall send someone back here to bring you some food in a while. You may spend your time on the boat however you please.” She walked out of the ornate black metal door into the bright sunlight of the ship’s enormous deck. She walked across the massive metal bulk of the vessel on her way to where Captain Lee stood ordering around a group of workers. Her ship may not have a mast, but soldiers, marines, and sailors all worked tirelessly to maintain the grand metal marvel which Akiva proudly walked. As she passed, each of them gave her a deep respectful bow or salute. She paid them no mind and kept her focus forward. When she approached the middle aged captain with slick black hair, he looked utterly horrified, as if Akiva was on her way to kill the man. Normally, this type of fear would be the result of her Aron steel plate mask that she wore in times of intimidation. 

 

“Lee, what is it?” She snapped fiercely, staring him dead in his dark brown eyes.

 

“M… my ..my lady it’s..” His stammering brought her to a boiling rage in a matter of moments.

 

“Spit it out, you shit!” This time she shouted and stepped forward, nearly causing the man to fall over backwards.

 

“It’s the Young Elf, my lady.” The man looked away and preemptively winced. “The ship carrying him was found burning and half-destroyed floating into port Yaandross. The crew and Sergeant Oleg were all found as corpses. Thaedres was nowhere to be seen and a lifeboat had clearly been jettisoned from the port side.” Akiva was stunned with anger. For nearly three minutes, she just stood there, frozen in anger with a shocked expression.

 

“And the cargo?” She finally said behind gritted teeth.

 

“All lost, burned most likely. He may have made off with a few of them if he is smar-” The back of her open palm silenced the man swiftly and sent him to the metal deck with a loud thud.

 

“INSOLENT FOOL!” Akiva erupted with so much rage that men from all over the ship froze. “When did we get word of this? How long have you let me sail south while the Young Elf roams free? He is the linchpin in my plans and imprisoning him was the first thing that needed to happen after Groudon woke. There is no telling how far behind schedule we are now. If the wreckage from the ship made it to Port Yaandross, then he must not be far from Idgyos on one of the many small islands that lay on that side of the Diamond Sea.” The man failed to answer right away, pushing Akiva’s anger to a more dangerous level. She walked over to where he lay on his back and gripped his wounded face. With one hand covered in a brilliant onyx and blood red gauntlet she lifted the man into the air from the brim of his collar.

 

“When I ask you a question, you answer me and if you don't know, you say you don't know, so that I might be reassured of your incompetence.” She threw him back to the ground with great force. When he hit the ground, a loud _crack_ sounded out and he laid utterly motionless. His back had been broken from the force of the throw and blood slowly seeped then spread out from him. Quickly, several men came up to dispose of the body and clean the blood. 

 

Akiva turned and shouted to the masses behind her, “Who is my next in command? Which one of you blithering weaklings is responsible for my forces now?” No one spoke up. The Galavadren army had been so green before Akiva took over the country and began her glorious campaign that she wondered if they even had a succession plan or other commanders that led more than twenty men at a time. It was no matter. She would bring a squad to help her recapture the Young Elf and the rest of these rats would wait back at Galavadra preparing for her return.

 

“No matter, I'll whip this military into shape once I get back.” She was shouting to her whole ship now with her loud booming voice, “I make my leave. The ten best fighters we have are to meet me in the docking bay. The rest of you shits better shape up. When I get back to the Iron Coast, there are going to be some changes.” She paused for a few seconds. “Well…. Back to work,” she shouted again and the silence and stillness of the men broke like a storm. They started to work at inhuman speeds. 

 

Akiva turned to walk towards a staircase going into the heart of the ship at the bow. It took her ten minutes to make her way to the docking bay where her men stood in heavier armor and with large weapons. The docking bay was a large metal room dimly lit by two torches by the door with a thick walkway surrounding the perimeter of the room and a ramp from where they stood leading to a large opening into the sea. Waves jumped and crashed against the metal, dowsing most of the lower parts of the chamber in salty water. A good-sized ship was tied to beams on the walls in the opening beyond the ramp. Sailors had already prepared the smaller ship for launch. Smoke rose from the chimney pillars towards the back of the ship. She nodded to a man in the corner of the room by a larger metal lever and he pulled the lever. The movement of large chains and growing metal sounded as massive iron doors in the chamber opened, revealing the bright blue sky and deep azure ocean.

“We embark to hunt down the escaped Young Elf. Many of you will die on our mission, but you die for Galavadra.” She walked away onto the outer walkway and took a small metal bridge across onto the ship. The men followed swifty. She whistled loudly after she checked with the captain. The ropes holding the ship were cut and its engine roared loudly and the pillars of smoke grew in speed and density. The ship sped off from the monolithic black mass of Titan’s Wrath.  

  
  



	4. A First of Many

Ejhaen Vrentandri 

5th of Delroth, 751 A.O.

A first of many

Soft breaths broke the cold air and billowed out in the bright sunlight. The air was biting and harsh from behind the bush where Ejhaen and his Gengar, Stygi, crouched. The two of them crouched low and and maintained complete and utter stillness. They watched Ejhean’s brand new Zubat, Tox, who was perched on a low-lying branch on an ancient, snow-covered pine. The small purple bat watched a deer as it grazed on a small patch of grass, unaware of its incoming death. Zubats lacked eyes and relied on sonar to hear, which most would think would be a disadvantage in this quiet environment, but, to the small bat, each small crunch of the deer’s chewing teeth was louder than it was to anything else in the world. The deer made its way through the forest, crunching on various plant life, still unaware. 

Ejhaen remained as patient as he needed to be for his new companion to get his first kill. He and Stygi followed from about a hundred yards back making sure not to scare the deer, this would be an ample amount of food for the three of them for at least two full days. Ejhean had found this young Zubat not four days ago trapped underneath a rock , crying out for help. He had gingerly removed the rock and had been caring for the small purple bat ever since. With the aid of his magic and the accesses he had to food up until now, the bat was improving drastically and had almost instantly become taken with Ejhaen and Stygi. The three of them were becoming quite the trio.

It took about an hour of this before Tox got up the confidence to strike, but, when he did, he made it count. The little purple bat dove at the deer’s neck from above and sunk his fangs deep, finding a vein. Blood spurted upon impact. Ejhaen was beaming at his new little friend while he and Stygi walked over to the dead beast and the feasting bat.

 

“I’m so proud of you, Tox. You took your time and found the right opportunity to strike and it paid off. One bite took that deer down quick.” Ejhaen pulled a knife from his belt and cut the small piece of meat that Tox was nibbling at and then took them both in his gloved hands and gently stroked the bats purple fur. Stygi was smiling and giggling along with Ejhaen’s jubilance. A cold wind snuck up on them causing the group to shiver fiercely.

 

“Don’t worry, guys. I'll get a fire going. Stygi, would you start carving and cleaning that deer up?” He took a small black wand from the left side of his belt and started to brush snow aside for a fire. “Though I suppose we call it venison now, don't we, boys?”

He laughed, and without Ejhaen noticing, Stygi rolled his eyes and started to laugh with him. Ejhaen gathered up small sticks and several small logs, he dried them with one tap of his wand then sparked a small ember in the center of his kindling pile with another. He found some more sticks to use as spits for Stygi and himself to cook their meat on. Tox seemed to prefer the deer bloody and raw, but the sight of it didn’t bother Ejhaen. 

They ate for a long while, while Ejhaen told stories to his new bat friend and Stygi confirmed with nods and facial expressions that Tox could not see. The little bat pointed his head directly at Ejhaen and was clearly listening with great intent while the hooded man told his tales to his two friends. 

 

Ejhaen was not here for a new companion, but he was happy to find one. He had made his way this fucking far north for a rare flower that grows in the hearts of only the deepest ice caves here on Nolkuth. He and Stygi had been hunting down ingredients for a potion for the past year and a half. They were finally close to their last one: the crystal jewels in the center of these flowers. Ejhaen was gathering ingredients for a potion for this strange traveler who had approached him in a pub. The man had promised him an entire chest of gold bars. Ejhaen did not believe the man at first, but some glint in his one working eye forced him to go with the man to the his horse cart just outside of the quaint pub. When the man lifted the lid of his chest, Ejhaen saw that he told no lies. The chest was filled to the brim with solid gold bars. 

The man gave him the location of his house which was hidden away in a swamp in south Ombir. He would be waiting there for Ejhaen and the potion until he was done. He was not a greedy man, nor a needy man, but Ejhaen grew up without and had been looking for an opportunity for great wealth ever since he was a child.     

 

Ejhaen didn’t know the name of the flower,  just what it looked like. So, nine months ago, after they retrieved the jeweled swamp grass, he and Stygi decided to just wing it and head as far north as he could to find a cave. They had to take boats halfway across the world up here to Nolkuth island. This was a mistake, for they had been wandering this god-forsaken, snow-capped forest for months on end. He had come across three caves so far and not one of them had even a trace of the flower he needed, but that would not deter him from completing this quest. Not to mention the boost in confidence that was his new little friend, and the fact that Stygi had taken to the little purple bat only made him more confident that he would become a great addition to his little party.

 

“Which way you think we should go next, boys? The fire is dying out and we should be on the move soon.” Stygi made a little grunt and jerked his head at the half-carved deer carcass. 

“Not to worry, Stygi, remember when we raided that bandit camp’s food stores? And stored it in my magic black bag?” The Gengar nodded to him, smiling and picking at his bright white teeth. 

“Well, I'll just cut it, wrap it, and put it in the same bag.” Ejhaen started the task he was explaining before he finished his sentence. Stygi kicked away the smoldering embers, pointing his arm to the north and the three of them made their way. 

Ejhaen loved to watch Tox dart around, hearing his surroundings and sniffing everything and anything. Stygi seemed to like it, too, for neither of them took their eyes off of the Zubat for miles and miles of walking. 

Several times during their journey, Ejhaen pulled scraps of raw meat from his endless black back and he would toss them ahead and watch Tox dart quickly to each scrap. Other times he would use a bit of magic to throw his voice away from them and make a noise. He would then watch Tox turn his head instantly to see nothing and get confused but then quickly turn back to his happy wandering. Stygi broke out in laughter each time he did this. This may have been the most enjoyable trip through the snow Ejhaen had ever had, accompanied by his two purple friends, laughing and playing after teaching Tox to hunt. 

 

Suddenly a hint of unease washed over Ejhaen, as though all had been going too well for too long. Stygi seemed to feel it as well, for they looked to each other with a grimace, and just as they did. Tox remained blissfully unaware and continued to dart around from smell to smell. Ejhaen and Stygi scanned their surroundings while covering each others backs. They remained watching, waiting, and listening, surrounded by the dense forest of massive snow-covered pines, aware of every movement and every sound. 

 

“Styg, we need to move. I don't like this,” he whispered to his friend behind him. The Gengar grunted in approval and then whistled, beckoning Tox over to them. They heard a rustle from out of sight about two hundreds yards behind them. Ejhaen snatched up Tox and wrapped him up into a pocket in his winter cloak then he and Stygi bolted. 

They ran north, darting and weaving through the droves of thick tree trunks and tall winterberry bushes. Ejhaen had put his wand back in his belt but was still held some dark energy clenched tightly in his hand. It wasn’t long before the thick forest slowly started to thin, step after step. The trees became more and more dispersed and the feeling of vulnerability engulfed Ejhaen. 

Then, like a sudden break of light, they were away from the forest, in a field of thigh-high snow that cut their speed in half. Ejhaen was really starting to panic now; he was exposed in a field, being chased by some unknown assailant. Ejhaen and Stygi we're no strangers when it came to fights, but something inside him said that this was something more deadly than a regular fight in the woods. They trudged through the snow at a frustratingly slow speed.

 

“Styg, get on my back and watch behind us. I can move faster in this shit than you can.” He wasn’t whispering anymore, he knew they were out of options and that he would rather have some eyes behind him than a Gengar half covered in the dense snow. Stygi leaped onto his back from behind him. He stood on one foot on Ejhaen’s left shoulder. This was appreciated, seeing as his friend weighed almost a hundred pounds. The weight of Stygi on his shoulder, his normal pack weight, and the density of the snow reduced Ejhaen’s movement to a light jog. But, having Stygi behind him to watch for the danger made him feel much more secure than movement that was a touch faster would have. 

His trudging continued for another hundred yards before Stygi gasped and started tugging at Ejhaen’s collar. He turned his head without stopping his movement to see four assassins in matching blue, black and white leather strapped suits. They stood atop the small hill. Ejhaen hadn’t even noticed they had climbed down; depth perception was particularly hard in thick snow. Ejhaen picked up as much speed as he could while making his way through the snow. 

Stygi’s eyes glowed a bright purple and he started to launch shadow balls from his hands at demonic speeds towards the assassins. The balls of raw, dark black energy hit the hill with extreme force and only one of them found its mark, causing the masked man to disintegrate into black ash. 

The assassins moved quickly as they split up into the open, hilly field and ran towards Ejhaen. He hadn’t made it very far through the snow, so his mind started to work more rapidly for a solution. If he could reach his wand he could help Stygi fend them off but cradling Tox in his coat took full use of one of his hands. Stygi kept casting shadow balls at the remaining three assassins, but their running patterns were hard to catch due to the craters littered in the snow behind them. The farther he trudged through the snow the closer the three assassins got to him. Soon, he would be left with no option but to turn and fight. He had hoped to make it to a better position to hold from but the snow was relentlessly thick and the wind had started to pick up. 

In a startling and stunning string of events, one of the assassins had made it close enough to jump into the air and then lunge with his two strapped arm blades as Ejhaen whipped out his wand, but the man was intercepted by Tox releasing from his pocket and lunging to sink his two teeth into the man’s neck. Ejhaen was paralyzed with fear for a split second when Tox escaped, but seeing his little bat friend take out the assassin so swiftly gave an intense surge of confidence. Stygi landed a shadow ball on the next closest assailant, vaporizing him instantly, just as Ejhaen spun on his heel and let loose a torrent of dark purple sparkling magical energy from his wand, hitting the man in the chest mid-lunge, causing him to go limp. Ejhaen and Stygi stood panting before looking at each other and smiling, a small wet chewing sound was coming from the corpse of the man that Tox had sunk his poison fangs into.

 

“Yeah, eat up, bud. You earned it. I had no idea Zubats could be so competent in a battle. Growing up, people told me you little guys were worthless.” He laughed for a moment, “Why did I ever listen to them?” Stygi joined in on the mirth and they started to search the two corpses that hadn’t been vaporized.

 

“No orders, no poster, not even a picture of me. Who the hell sent these guys?” Ejhaen looked to Stygi, who shrugged, then to Tox, who looked up from his foot to cock his head at him, forcing a smile out of Ejhaen. He did find an interesting looking ring underneath a glove off of one of the slain enemies. He felt a strong magic presence coming off of it and decided to stash it in a pocket in his coat as they began to leave. Ejhaen desperately wanted to escape the open, snowy fields before nightfall. If he and his two Pokemon were stuck without shelter, the harsh cold might overtake them. 

He picked up the pace, still not seeing anything on the horizon, just miles and miles of white snow as far as the eye could see. The sun went from being high in the sky during midday, to lying at an angle just before light was about to fade from the world as he saw what looked like a wooden building far off in the distance. He set himself towards it and slowed his steps, knowing that he would not freeze that night. 

It took him about another hour before he reached the wooden building, which turned out to be an abandoned farmstead. It was sealed fairly well, and, after his inspection of the place, the only real structural issues he found were fallen beams from the storage area above. He set up another small fire with some dry hay and hacked up chunks of the beams from a quick spell out of his wand. The fire kept them warm, but their stomachs went empty. It was a long hard night for the three of them.

 

Ejhaen was awoken by the soft sound of light footsteps of animals from outside the abandoned barn. He drew his wand and silently made his way out into the early morning snow. The four elk didn’t notice as he approached. One quick cutting charm across the neck of the largest and heaviest looking deer broke through the silence and spooked the other three off. Ejhaen dragged his fresh kill into the barn where he found Tox and Stygi, just waking up with yawns and stretches. One quick flick of his wrist cleared away a table of its dirt and clutter and lifted the carcass from the floor to the now-clear table before Ejhaen began to skin and carve. After that, he made a fire and they ate their fill of the venison. Ejhaen and his two Pokemon companions cleared any evidence of their stay in the barn and ventured further north in search of a cave.

 

The expanse of white-hilled, snowy plains stretched on for miles upon miles of walking. Their footsteps were the only way they were able to keep a straight path north. Ejhaen had never been to Nolkuth before. He had only ever seen it on maps and questioned why somewhere so far north had such a warm-sounding name. He was here now and still had no idea why it would be named as it was. Walking step after endless step in the snow made him question if this place even changed with the season or if there was nothing but snow year-round. Luckily, Ejhaen wrapped up some of the leftover meat from that morning’s kill earlier. He and his friends had to stop and eat after nearly half a day. If Ejhaen had known that he would have to walk this much, he may not have accepted the job. This was fucking terrible.

 

“Stygi, if we don't see some mountains soon, I’m gonna lose it.” Stygi nodded in agreement and Tox let out an exasperated high pitched grunt. Ejhaen couldn’t help but crack a small smile in response.

 

“I can't even tell if we are going uphill or not. These fucking hills are never ending. This isn’t even all we have to do. After finding this goddamn ice flower, we have to charter another ride off this icy rock and go all the way to Ombir. Then, we gotta march our asses across Ombir.” Tox made another little noise at this. 

“I suppose you’re right, Tox. You don't have to walk, do you?” They ate slowly, enjoying the daylight. 

“That gold sure is gonna be nice though, boys. With that kind of capital, a person can really do things in this world. Great things.” His eyes drifted off into the distance as he spoke his last two words. Stygi looked at him, inspired, as Tox continued to gnaw and chew at the piece of cooked meat. He looked disappointed that the meat was not like it was before, but the little bat ate it nonetheless.

Their walk continued as the sun began to set. Cold was starting to set in and Ejhaen began to panic. If they didn’t see a sign of something soon, they would have to start digging for shelter. Just as the last bit of yellow light was clinging to the sky, Ejhaen spotted purple and white tips of mountains in the distance. He and Stygi made a quick glance to each other and then started to run at a decent pace with Tox following closely behind.

 

“Somewhere in this mountain range, we are gonna find that damn flower, and finally get off of Nolkuth.” The three of them quickend their steps and began to run. The mountains grew steadily bigger as they ran. They ran faster and faster as Ejhaen realised that they were in a race with the sun, and that if they didn’t win they would freeze.


	5. Word From Anaklees

Hayleta

5th of Delroth, 751 A.O.

Word from Anaklees

 

Hayleta and Thaedres walked barefoot on a warm beach with soft wind brushing their face with cool salty sea air. Their hands were clasped and they talked leisurely about foods, drinks, scenery, arts, and anything that came to mind and fancied each others’ interest. After they walked for a while, they came across a table full of all of the foods and pleasures that they discussed. They sat across from each other and ate sweet cakes and tender cuts of meat to their hearts’ content as they sun slowly sank into a red, orange and gold glow. Thaedres took Hayleta by the hand and they lied down on the soft warm white sand. He put his hand on her hip and gently brushed her long raven-black hair behind her ears. Hayleta tensed in anticipation of what she wanted so badly. She calmed herself, then closed her eyes and leaned in, waiting for the soft lips of her elven lover -- 

_ KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. _

Hayleta’s hand slipped from under her chin as loud raps on the ornate green wooden door to her chambers woke her. Her head slipped and crashed onto her desk, where she had fallen asleep looking over maps, letters, and books. She was lucky her hair covered the spot where she made painful contact with the table, for she was absolutely sure there would be a red mark in the shape of the quill she had fallen on. 

“Yes?” Hayleta called back and sat up, fixing her hair, messy from sleep, and putting her black-jeweled gauntlet back on. She loved her new accessory. Gripping anything with it made the object weightless, and when she held her staff with it, she felt the flow of magical energy surge within her with much greater intensity than she could ever muster on her own. She wondered if the Galavadrens even knew of the potential power of this object. Even now, weeks after the battle in the forest, she was discovering new things about it.

 

“Lady Calloway.” Hayleta hated being addressed by her last name, but it made sense. After all, she was in command of this scouting ship.

 

“Come in, Gellevor.” She had to resist the urge to sigh. Her first mate Gellevor was relentless. He never let her have much time to her thoughts or studies, which was what had made her fall asleep at her desk late last night in the first place.

 

“We have word from Anaklees and the Verdant Vengeance.” He handed her another note after striding into the room gripping his sword hilt, he never stopped his formal outer appearance and was always wearing his full set of armor.

 

“Ah, good. More reading.” She could not hide her annoyance any more, and her tone made that obvious.

 

“I’ll leave you to it, my lady.” He nodded to her and then turned and walked out of the room. A nice reprise from his usual hovering and endless questions. She cut the wax seal and unrolled the parchment to read Anaklees’s thin slanted script.

 

_ Hayleta, I have a mission for you and the crew of the Emerald Arrow. We are only a week away from the Ithari Straits. If you know anything of this place, you know that we could be sailing right into a horrific trap. You will sail far ahead and around, then send a force to scouts the cliffs and make sure we will be safe sailing through. We will slow ourselves to buy you more time, for the cliffs surrounding the straits are expansive and treacherous. Hayleta, when you have word, I need you yourself to teleport to my side to bring me the news. Time is of the essence and your magic is vital for the survival of the Thuusains. I will be sending Kazma and Sparks with you for this journey. They will arrive in a small ship a few days from this letters arrival. Trust yourself, Hayleta. I will be hearing from you soon. _

 

Hayleta wiped a tear from her eye that had welled up from her disbelief in how much Anaklees, the good captain, trusted and respected her. It was as if he had known her for years. She was  _ not _ going to let him down. This was a simple task and if there were any Galavadren rats hiding in the cliffs she would stomp them out. The stone of her gauntlet glowed for a second, as her confidence and sense of purpose swelled up into an intense burn in her chest.

 

“Hello, again, Hayleta.” Dravora’s voice rang out like a symphony from behind her. Hayleta spun around in her chair and stood up before the glowing beauty and glory of the Dragon Goddess. The sound of waves and wind halted in her appearance and time stood still yet again.

“Dravora,” she gasped. Hayleta felt immediate embarrassment at her apparent excitement and eagerness and her cheeks turned a bright scarlet red to match her mood.

 

“It’s good to see you, too, my dear.” She smiled genuinely and Hayleta felt warmth inside her like never before. “I am here to bring you bad new unfortunately.” The goddess’ face hardened in a split second.

 

“What is it your...” she paused, lost for a correct title to refer to the goddess as. “I’m sorry, but what should I call you?”

 

“Dravora is fine. I’ve never been a fan of all of these formalities and titles. Just wastes time.” Hayleta smiled at this. Did the goddess choose her because they were similar in this way?  And if they were similar in this way, were they similar in other ways?

 

“To answer your thoughts: yes and yes.” Hayleta was embarrassed for a moment, having forgetten about this aspect of communicating with the goddess. “It’s alright, Hayleta. Many forget, but you will get use to it. Kudro will be waking from his stasis in a month’s time. He is the demigod companion of    
Kyogre. Shavora and I are in agreement in this conflict and we both know that Idarr needs to be stopped, so her champion and demigod children will certainly be on our side in the wars to come. 

“But, the problem is, my child,” she said, acknowledging the confused look on look on Hayleta’s face, “Kudro was locked in an intense battle just before Uvara and Celebi cast their Obliteration on the world. He and Gurin’vel Katar’s rivalry had come to a bitter standstill and they had been locked in combat with each other for hours before it happened. But, Kudro is frozen in time in the middle of Gurin’s temple. By now, they will have reinforced their numbers with more fire acolytes for the day when he wakes. If we don't interfere, Kudro will wake in the grips of the enemy, and we will be at a horrific disadvantage.” Dravora’s expression remained hard for a while after she finished speaking and Hayleta stared unblinkingly at the beautiful goddess.

 

“This is a lot to take in, Dravora, and I'm still confused. But, not about everything. How soon will Kudro be awoken from his stasis?” Hayleta tried her best to speak as a peer to the goddess. She was her champion and was going to play the role cast upon her like she was born for it, and perhaps she was.

 

“I have no exact answer. I believe it will be after this month of Delroth, so we don’t have much time. The temple is not known about by the common people and large kingdoms of the world. Not even your people, far off in Zien, with all of their knowledge of magic and the world before the Great change, know about Vel’Gruud. I have not seen the place since long before their famed fight, so I am afraid I have no information about the damned place myself.” Hayleta was slightly troubled at hearing the goddess curse, but she didn't let a worded thought enter her mind for even a moment.

 

“So, what am I to do, Dravora?” Hayleta replied immediately, with the same confidence in her voice that had led her to kiss Theadres.

 

“I will have the answer for you later, but for now, I leave you with some wisdom about the Ithari Straits. Long ago my eldest son Avelldros spent many months there training with Rayquaza. They fought with each other and with those I willed to venture to their unfortunate death.” Hayleta gasped. This sounded like the work of horrible tyrant, not a goddess.

 

“My dear, do you think I lead innocent people to their death? No, no. Deviants, murderers, and any other scum I was able to round together into bands and hordes — Avelldros and his Dragon slew them all and they grew together with tremendous speed. Soon they had become more in tune with each other than any pair in the world, demi-godly or otherwise, and they were ready to fight for the honor of my name and for all of the dragons in the world. But the energy of their training remains in those cliffs.”

“After they left on a personal mission I had sent them on, I myself returned to the Ithari Straits. I decided to commemorate their growth, so I roamed the cliffs for hours in search of something. I didn’t know what it would be, but I knew it would stand out. And so I found it: just a small gem in a small cave. I harnessed all of the remaining energy and power in the air with a grand spell. I stood there for hours, channeling the energy of the storm that I had formed. And once I had finished, the gem was carved with swirling red runes and it glowed a majestic bright sapphire blue. I stored it in the cave I had found it in. The gem lies in a small wooden chest behind a very small waterfall surrounded by flowered vines. I believe the power in this gem has been growing and gathering from the natural energy of storms and the large waves that crash along the cliffs.” 

The goddess’ intense gaze bored into hers. “We need this gem, Hayleta. When you and the scouts from this ship are exploring the cliffs, I will briefly guide you away towards the cave to retrieve it. I know this is a lot to think about, but just remain calm and keep your command over the ship as well as you have been. I know I chose well when I picked you as my champion.” Dravora smiled wildly at Hayleta and started to shimmer and fade into blue mist.

 

“Wait,” Hayleta shouted as the goddess disappeared into mist, for she still had more questions for the goddess - questions about Thaedres’s well being and if any of her party members survived the siege of Greenwood. But, she was left alone in her cabin surrounded by papers and the sounds of the sea. She felt disappointed at not being able to ask the goddess everything she wanted to, but knew that if she was patient, she would learn. 

She sat back down at her desk and started to organize her papers into even stacks and began to read her unread orders and letters. 

She was much more excited for this mission now. Before, she thought it would just entail searching the cliffs and maybe fighting off a troop of Galavadrens. But, now, she was going to find a godly artifact that had been gathering power for centuries. She wondered what kind of things she and Dravora would do with the gem. Hayleta got lost in her thoughts for a while thinking about marvelous magic inventions she and her patron goddess could possibly create with the power of the gem. Her thoughts carried her imagination around all corners of her magical knowledge and even further to new ideas and new ways to manipulate the energy she held. She was lost in her thoughts for an hour or so before three sharp knocks rapped on her cabin door.  **_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_ ** .

 

“Lady Calloway, the chef sent me for your dinner order.” The familiar and slightly irritating voice of Gellevor rang out from beyond her orante green wooden door. She had still not been able to get used to the fact that she could chose her meals while aboard a ship. The Thuusains must have lived quite well before the sacking.

 

“I’ll bring my order down to them myself, Gellevor. Thank you.” she spoke politely, “Would you come in?” 

 

The door swiftly swung open and the man stepped inside facing Hayleta’s desk. “Yes, Lady Calloway?” 

 

“I need a bag. A good traveling bag. Something with straps,  a lot of storage space, and several pockets. I have nothing like this, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be helped by having it soon.” She didn’t look at the man as she spoke. She walked over to her mirror across the room and tied her hair into a regal back-of-the-head tail.

 

“Yes, my lady,” he said with the tone of someone who’d been left behind in some thought they didn’t fully understand.

“I’ll bring you the first good bag I can find. Do you have any preferences for color?” Hayleta’s hands froze for a moment as she pondered why he would be asking about a color preference for a traveling bag.

 

“Uh, no. Any color is fine. The sooner the better, Gellevor. Thank you, again.” She dismissively continued tying her hair. He dutifully left, and shut the door with a swift motion. She finished tying her hair and then strapped her swords to her back and grabbed her red stone staff. She made her way out of her cabin looking back for a moment at where Dravora stood before the door closed. 

The salty sea wind assaulted her senses as she made her way across the busy working deck. The kitchen was on the opposite side of the Emerald Arrow and underneath the main deck. It didn’t take her long to make her way across the deck to her destination. The scouting ship of the Thuusains’ small fleet was not large. but it was deathly fast. She greeted many sailors and marines as she walked along the green-stained deck and they all smiled and greeted back. At first she was worried about earning their respect, but she soon learned that they all knew of her already. Her feat of taking out the tower had apparently been talked about among all of the remaining Thuusains, which lead Hayleta to think about whether their mages were really so unimaginative that they had never tried magnetism-based spells and manipulation. Upon reaching the stairs, she quickly made her way to the door outside the kitchen. 

 

She knocked on the door twice sharply and politely called, “Chef Longrose, I would not like anything special for dinner. Just serve me whatever the rest of the crew is having again.” She had asked for this every night since they set sail. Hayleta had never wanted to treated specially among her men, even if she was the ship's captain. Suddenly Hayleta heard a utensil slam onto the table and foot steps stomping towards the door. It flung open and the steamy red face of the elven chef scowled at Hayleta.

 

“Captain Hayleta,” the chef shouted loudly and stood so close Halyeta could almost feel the lady-elf’s breath. “Why have you never once asked me to make you a special meal? Do you know how unbelievably offensive that is? Who are you to have to nerve to suggest that  _ I _ could not craft your favorite foods to perfection?” 

 

Hayleta was dumbfounded, she hadn’t even considered that refusing this offer was being rude to her chef. “Chef Longrose, I.. I’m...” She didn’t even know what to say to this. She was still baffled that she was being rude.

 

“You  _ what _ ? You don’t have the nerve to come down here and refuse my hospitality to my face? Well, actually, clearly you do, but I will not take it lying down! I am no peasant cook. I, Chef Lo’ayla Longrose, have been cooking for the Thuusains for more than a thousand years. I have made every dish imaginable!” She was fuming, so angry that Hayleta had a whole new appreciation of the emotional range of the elves.

“Chef Longrose, I had no idea I was offending you. I am so sorry. I had thought I was saving you the trouble of extra effort for me. But, clearly I was wrong, and I will start asking for specific meals at once,” Hayleta apologized swiftly, words pouring out of her mouth enthusiastically, trying to convey her feelings to the chef. The chef paused for a moment, still glaring at her captain, the foreign witch. 

 

“Well, Captain, I am also sorry. I should not have blown up at you. It was just that I was worried you thought I was incompetent.”

 

“Not at all. Chef, I love your food - that’s part of the reason I was so ready to accept any meal from your kitchen. I knew anything you made would touch my senses like nothing else could, honestly. Your food makes me feel almost at home on this ship, except the food back home in Zien isn’t anything as good as this.” Hayleta took a deep inhale. The aroma of the kitchen behind them was intoxicating and it drew her gaze away from the striking face of Chef Longrose.

 

“So, Captain, what will it be?” The elf had a smug look on her face when Hayleta turned back to look at her, almost drooling. 

 

Hayleta paused for a moment to think before saying, “How about a seared steak, potato, and onion hash? The rest of the meal I leave to you. But, as part of my meal, I wish to eat with you, Lo’ayla.” 

 

Lo’ayla smiled more sincerely from hearing this, “If you don’t mind waiting, I’m all yours. The Chef always eats last.” She fastened her apron and avoided Hayleta’s gaze.

 

“I do not. It just means my meal will be better.” This made the chef laugh heartily as she walked back into the kitchen and continued working.

 

Hayleta turned and made her way back onto the deck of the Emerald Arrow. She would spend her time before her meal with the crew and the scenery of the ocean and the far off shore of Opiath still visible in the distance.

Again she was greeted with the salty scent of the sea air the moment her head was above deck level on her way up the stairs. She was approached by Gellevor holding a brown leather bag.

 

“Gellevor? How did you…?” Her voice trailed off as she looked at the bag he held in his hand.

 

“How did I find such a perfect bag in so little time? Well, my lady, I took a trip down to the storage room and started to look. You should see some of the stuff we have down there. Seeing as we emptied Castle Uthethery, we have way more on this ship than we ever would need. Luckily that included this wonderful bag, and, my lady, it is indeed wonderful.” He handed it over to Hayleta and she began to inspect the bag and he had not told a lie; it was quite the bag. It slung over her shoulder or her back, with adjustable straps and four large side pockets. The main chamber was enormous for its size, almost as if enchanted.

 

“Well, how can I thank you for this? This is more of a bag than I ever could have hoped for.” She smiled at him genuinely.

 

“No payment is needed, my lady, just doing my duty for my captain.” He nodded before continuing, “I’m off to check on the men. If you need anything, send for me.” He darted off towards some sailors and began barking their names. Maybe Gellevor wasn’t as irritating as she thought. 

She started off towards a group of marines standing and talking near the railing. As she approached, they looked panicked and stared at her with grimaces.

 

“Stand down, men. Nothing wrong here, just coming for good ol’ conversation and company.” Their collective tensed anxiety eased.

 

“Hail, captain.” They all said in unison, but with genuine meaning.

 

“What brings you over ‘ere, captain?” one of the men asked, as she leaned against the rail facing the innards of the ship with a relaxed grimace.

 

“Ah, just killing time before dinner. I can’t take anymore of those damn papers for the night.” She leaned her neck all the way back, looking up into the sky, slowly changing to night in a fiery orange glow.

 

“Oi, captain.” One of the other men handed her a small pipe full of bright green leaves, speckled with small purple crystals. “This oughta help take your mind off the troubles of command.” Hayleta took the pipe. Several of the other marines in this group started to light and take puffs of other dark brown wooden pipes. 

 

“What is it? And what does it do?” She light a small fire on the tip of her right pointer finger and stared at the green leafy substance.

 

“Its Uvara’s own creation, Captain Calloway. A lovely green flowered plant that she named Vavorathin. But, we just call it Vav weed or just vav. It calms the senses and allows you to enjoy your time tenfold.” He pulled another pipe from inside a pocket strapped to his belt and packed the small round-holed chamber with more vav weed. The man struck a small stone on his metal bracer while holding his pipe just below. It sparked and he started to slowly inhale, and, after a few moments, he exhaled several breaths of purple-tinted smoke. 

Hayleta used the fire on her finger tip to light the purple, shimmering, dried plant substance in her own brown pipe. The smoke felt shockingly cool, cold even. Every inch of her insides touched by the smoke tingled with a relaxing energy, the likes of which Hayleta had never felt before. She held the smoke in her lungs for a few moments, feeling more of the prickling, elating energy before exhaling and getting lost in the beautiful shapes of the shining purple smoke that left her mouth softly.

 

“Woah, this sure is something. I, uh,” she was having a hard time relating her feelings into words, “This is incredible.” She looked at nothing as she spoke but she saw everything around her, even as she closed her eyes.

 

“It’s different for everyone who uses it, Captain. The more in tune with the magical energies of the world you are, the better it is, they say. I wouldn’t know. I haven’t an ounce of magic in me.”

 

“I beg to differ, Nico,” a man who stood and smoked with them said, winking at the man who handed Hayleta the pipe. All of the men around laughed heartily, except for the man next to Hayleta, and several patted him on the shoulder. Hayleta looked around at their mirth, confused.

 

“I don't get it. What makes you all laugh with such spirit and life? I didn’t hear anything funny.” She looked at all of them, but mostly at Nico, the man next to her. She took another puff of the vav.

“Nico and Briar over there,” one of the women in the group pointed at the man who spoke up and caused the laughter, “are lovers, and, well, Briar is quite vocal about it. Nico gets quite flustered over it and it brings us much laughter.” This made Hayleta uncomfortable for a moment; were they poking fun at the two? Her smile faded for a moment before she spoke, but Nico spoke first.

 

“Captain, what’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable with two men being lovers?” he looked at her questioningly before taking another puff of his pipe.

 

“No, no! Not at all. I was only worried that it was not a friendly jest at you, Nico.” This caused another round of mirth in the group, and after a few moments it spread to the rest of the ship.

 

“What? What did I say?” Hayleta started to panic. She was not used to people laughing at things she said when she was intending to be humorous.

 

“Captain.” Nico managed to stop laughing for a moment, which slowly caused the laughter to die down, “Captain, many of us in the Thuusain military have lovers. Male, female, or what have you, none of it matters here. What matters is your connection with each other, the type of connection that makes you fight like a mad dog out on the field.” The man made eye contact with his apparent lover, Briar, and they looked at each other fiercely and grabbed each other in a quick but passionate kiss, then returned to their pipes as if nothing happened. Hayleta paused for a moment, not exactly knowing what to say next. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself infront of her crew.

 

“Did Thaedres have a lover? Did he have someone he fought for, is that why he is such a brilliant fighter?” She spoke evenly, so as to not convey her true feelings for Thaedres. No one responded for a moment, but many of the men kept smoking.

 

“No, not yet. But just think of it, what he will be like once he has someone to fight for.”

 

“He’ll be unstoppable! A goddamn legend,” another of the women on the ship spoke up loudly, and conversation broke back across the arrow. Most were not working now. The ship was in pristine condition and the infectious smells of the kitchen made it impossible to do anything but stand around and wait. Hayleta didn’t mind. Her crew worked hard and they deserved it. After all, their home was just destroyed.

 

“You ask as if you are interested in him?” Nico spoke softly, so only Hayleta would hear it. She was instantly flustered, no one had seen when the two of them kissed, and they had only done it twice so far.

 

“How did you know?” Nico and Briar’s finger’s were intertwined but Briar was engaged in a separate conversation.

 

“I have a special sense for these things, Captain Calloway.” He smiled at her, and again she was speechless. All she knew in this moment was that this man next to her, Nico, would be next to her side on the mission to the Ithari Straights. Hayleta wanted to know what someone with that level of attunement could do on the battlefield. Before she was able to ask anything else, the familiar sound of the dinner bell broke the conversation and everyone started filing down into the lower level. 

Hayleta decided to hang back and enjoy the sea air for a while longer. She was more than excited for her dinner with the captain. The woman had passion and Hayleta wanted to know how that would translate into her favorite dish: seared steak, potato, and onion hash. The last time she had it was more than seven months ago, before she left Zien, and she was ready for the food-based nostalgia trip that was about to hit her.

Before she could blink, Hayleta stood on the light gray stone wall of Calloway Castle, her childhood home. She and Thaedres stood with their hands clasped together between two parapits on the ancient but pristeen wall. The golden light of the sunset hit the right side of their faces and bathed them in wonderful warm light. After a few moments, they sat down where they were standing. Their feet hung over the edge of the wall. Hayleta reached into her bag and pulled several small cakes and sausages from their wrappings. The two of them ate and stared at the glorious view of the Zienen farm lands. Thaedres brushed his long bright golden blonde hair behind his ear and pushed his arms back causing him to lean back and fully bathe in the warm light. Hayleta couldn’t help but stare at him. He was inhumanly beautiful, being a young elf, but even for elves, he was remarkable. The people of Zien were generally good-looking but no man ever had golden blonde hair like he had, or his bright shimmering purple eyes, or his perfectly tanned smooth skin. He was everything Hayleta could have ever wanted, and so much more. Hayleta turned to look away and began to tear up. She closed her eyes and her thoughts turned to vicious determination. If it killed her, she would make her way back to Thaedres. They belonged together and she was going to fight for him and his people until her last breath was drawn.

 

“Captain? Are you alright?” She snapped back into the now-darker night sky. Chef Longrose stood in front of her, with her dark red hair now let down, her apron off her neck but still tied to her waist, and holding a cloth over her shoulder. It was not apparent to Hayleta that she had teared up for real, due to the intensity of her day dream. She now felt flustered and embarrassed as she wiped the tears from her face.

 

“Yes, I’m fine.” She tried to fight back a sniff but she couldn’t. 

 

“Alright, well, if you would still like to eat with me, Captain, our food is ready. We can eat in my kitchen.” She turned and started walking and Hayleta quickly followed. Her stomach grumbled when she realised it had been more than twelve hours since her last bite of food. When they arrived in the kitchen, there was table set up for the two of them, with a bowl of salt, a plate of bread, a large dish of cows butter, a large pitcher of ice and that same blue drink she had back in Greenwood Castle. Soon the chef brought over two large plates of delicious-smelling steak hash, brightly colored with vegetables, nestled inside a pocket of hash. Hayleta took of her gauntlet and braces and set them on a counter, then walked over to the table and sat down nearly watering at the mouth.

 

“How does it look?” the chef asked earnestly.

 

“Incredible!” She scooped up a bit of everything on one bite and ate it. It was the most delicious food she had ever eaten and maybe the most delicious food she would ever eat, or at least that's how she felt in that moment. It took every last ounce of strength she had to not break her manners and start eating like a starved wolf. She ate another reasonably sized bite and then began to butter a slice of bread.

 

“Chef, this food is divine. How can you craft such marvelous food while on a boat kitchen?” She ate a third bite on top of some buttered bread. She chuckled for a while before answering,

 

“It took a while. The first hundred years of sailing, I served mediocre slop. I eventually mastered the tools I had at the time but they were also mediocre. I pleaded at Anaklees for better equipment and a new kitchen aboard the Emerald Arrow. It took a while, but soon, I was able to design a whole new kitchen myself. That’s when I really learned how to master my craft.” She laughed again before continuing, “If you get to learn some of the crew you’ll learn that most of them choose to stay aboard this ship, and you know why they stay?” She an enormous bite and wolfed it down in moments. “They stay for my food.”

 

“I can see why.” Hayleta started to eat with the enthusiasm that the chef had displayed, in large bites and eating as fast as she likes. “It truly is amazing, better than anything i had back home in Zien chef.”

 

“You honor me, Captain,” The two of them continued to eat and drink the delicious food and drink all the while talking to each other about their lives, loves, and loathes. They conversation went on all night and when Hayleta finally made it back to her chamber after several plates of refills and hours of talking she felt real relaxation and peace while slowly drifting off into dreamless sleep.  

 


	6. Stoneguard Manor

Almeric Stoneguard  
9th of Delroth, 751 A.O.  
Stoneguard Manor 

Almeric and his pet Growlithe, Letha, both woke slowly and sleepily as he reached over to a small table next to her bed, searching for his water skin that was nearly empty. He drained its remainder. and then, in a swift motion, he threw the thick layer of covers off of himself and the small black, white, and gray lion dog before they sprang up onto their feet. He walked over to the other side of his room and started to dress while the little dog stretched and yawned. He started with a thin white long sleeved shirt and then put on a pair of thick brown cotton and hide pants. Next, he put on a his dark brown inner jacket layer, and followed it up with the congruent outer layer of jacket. Finally, he put on his two black long leather gloves, and the dark brown thick winter boots he had made for himself last winter. Almeric helped Letha into the little fur suit he had made to match his boots. The two of them left Almeric’s room and made their way down into the main room of the Stoneguard's huge manor. No one else would be awake at this hour, so he and his pet would be undisturbed in their food gathering for their upcoming hunt. They walked through the large main hall of the wooden manor and made their way into the kitchen, where Almeric started quietly gathering up some loaves of bread and hunks of meat and cheese along with a few fruits. Letha snacked on a large piece of meat that Almeric threw down for her.

“Eat up, girl. We’re going out for a while this time. We’re not coming back without bagging a deer.” Letha growled in approval and ate with newfound vigor. “Now, what else could we need for this trip? We might be out overnight, so I’ll grab some bedrolls and a tent. I can set up and pack with room for even more food.” Again, Letha growled in approval, but this time slightly louder and more vigorously.   
“Hey, don’t wake up the whole house. We don't want anyone to know where we’re off to, otherwise Bellona is gonna chase us down and make us do stuff for the house all day again.” Letha growled in response, quieter but with distinct sass in her tone.  
Soon, they both had their fill, and Almeric had rounded up a full day of supplies: a long and thick rope, his bow and a quiver of thirty arrows, their food rations, a hunting spear, a bed roll, his knife on his belt, and a hatchet. Everything was strapped tight so he could move swiftly and silently through the woods, and as they walked down the long wooden staircase on the far side of the main hall. They left though a side door and made their way into the large, snow-capped courtyard of Stoneguard Manor, walking up a staircase onto the wooden walkway of the outer wall. He followed the same path he always had to a spot on the far corner of the wall, then took a running start before jumping off the wall onto a thick low-hanging branch on a nearby pine tree. 

“Come on, Letha. Just like last time.” The little black, white, and gray wolf dog crouched and dug his front left paw into the walkway below.   
“I’ll catch you, baby, don’t worry.” Letha ran towards the edge and leaped gracefully in a long arch into the arms of Almeric, he held her tight for a moment before climbing down the remaining thirty feet of tree. They both stretched once on the ground, Almeric cracked his back, thick with muscles, several times then each of his fingers, he looked down to Letha who was just recovering from a long low front stretch and said, “You ready, girl? Let’s catch us a deer.” 

The two of them started out into the winter wild of Buruul. The land was mostly flat and the trees spread apart evenly and with good space in between them. But, after the first two and half miles, the land became hilly and rocky, and the trees became much thicker and larger, forming spacious canopies above. They started walking much more lightly and their vigilance increased tenfold; Almeric was on the lookout for any movement in his vision, while Letha kept her ears open for any sounds within the enormous perimeter of her audible range.   
The Growlithe bred here in Buruul were larger and had better senses of hearing and smell than the common breeds, as the Buruulins had been breeding their distinct, muscular Growlithe to near-perfection for hundreds of years. Letha was no exception. In fact, she was the largest and strongest of her litter, as well as being the only female. But, Almeric had known her since she was smaller than the palm of his hand, so Letha would always be a small dog to him, even if she had grown to be four feet tall at the shoulder while on all fours.   
They continued their quiet, slow, low walk for another few hours before Letha heard something. She pointed her nose sharply towards the northeast, directing Almeric’s attention to a rustling bush a few hundred yards ahead. They made their way towards the juniper bush in a wide arch, making sure not to draw any attention to themselves. Their careful steps barely indented the thick snow beneath them. They came around a patch of large trees to find the source of the rusting: a bear sat on the ground, enjoying the berries from a nearby bush. Bringing back a grizzly of this size would make Bellona and Varrick shut their mouth for good - that much meat would feed the whole family for a few days.   
Almeric looked down at Letha and nodded, prompting her to dart out and start to growl at the bear while digging her paws into the snow. The bear took the bait. It stood its great mass up onto its hind legs and roared before dropping down and lunging. Letha darted to the side at the last moment to avoid the great brown bulk of the bear, following up with a jump where she sunk her teeth into the beast’s neck. It wailed, roared, and shook Letha off, throwing her into a snow drift. Almeric took this opportunity to sink an arrow into its forehead. He took the time to steady his shot and strike at his mark, since hitting the beast anywhere else would slowly spoil the meat. Letha quickly jumped up from where she laid in the snow, wagging her tail and panting with blood-soaked teeth. Almeric knew that she wouldn’t have been phased from being thrown twenty feet by a bear. She was a scrappy little shit, but she wasn’t that little.

“Good work, Lethy, although I didn’t think about how the hell we’re gonna get this thing back. I know you’re strong baby,” he said, seeing the look of disappointment on Letha’s face, “but a Buruulian grizzly of this size has got to weigh twenty four hundred pounds. We can’t drag it back home ourselves.” He scanned his surroundings while scratching the scalp of his loyal pet Letha, looking for anything that might help.

“I got it! Leth, I need you to rummage me up all the tall, dead grass you can find. Keep it as long as possible.” Letha ran off without a second glance. She had always been a great companion, but recently something had happened to her. She was more intune with every one of Almeric’s thoughts, so much so that it was uncanny at times. The best example of this was last week, when Almeric had lost his knife and had the thought while looking for it that Uvrik might have stolen it. He heard growling coming from Uvrik’s room and found Letha waiting there with the knife in her mouth. Countless other times since then, it had seemed as if Letha was hearing his thoughts, and, to be honest, Almeric didn’t mind. Feeling that close to something that you love so much and being able to communicate on a metaphysical level brought him joy like he had never known before.

With Letha far beyond his sight, Almeric had already begun hacking away at a fallen over tree trunk with his hatchet. He was carefully removing the bark to fashion it into a large cubic rectangle. When he finished, the large wooden block sat in front of him and he began scoring marks along it horizontally. When the lines were cut deep, he began to slowly and precisely hack into the scores with his hatchet, cutting the wood into smaller pieces. He kept hacking at the wood until he had several thin planks and one large square. He began to organize and stack his planks when he heard the excited footsteps of Letha running around the bend with a mouthful of long dried grass.

“Great work, girl! This is perfect. Can you go get me as much as you can? We’re gonna need a lot of this to haul this fat som’ bitch outta here,” he said, while scratching her head and taking the bundle of grass gently from her mouth. Maw emptied, she ran off immediately in the same direction she came from. Taking the grass a strand at a time, he wove and tied the pieces together into several thick strands and set them next to the planks. Almeric had everything he needed, now, with Letha bringing him more and more bundles of grass, so he set to work assembling his makeshift sleigh. He set two planks on the ground, six feet apart, and then began the long, arduous process of securely fastening the larger wooden square to the two planks on the ground. Letha came back with another mouthful of grass.

“That’s enough, girl, we got what we need.” She flopped herself onto the ground and panted for a few moments before shaking the snow off of her fur and then walking over to where Almeric worked. It took him another hour of weaving, tying, and securing planks to finish the sleigh. When he had, he began to use the rest of the woven grass strands to tie the bear carcass to his wooden sleigh. The strands came together at a point and then split into two extra thick bands.

“Alright, Lethy, let’s just rest up a bit before we gotta start dragging.”   
She growled confusedly at him.   
“Yeah, I did say that, but now, with my sleigh, we can take it back ourselves.” She huffed before curling up closer to him. He took out some of the food that he brought and fed the two of them as they sat at the base of an ancient, snow-capped pine. They ate and drank for a long while curled up together; it was hard for Almeric to force himself to get up, due to the excessive warmth and coziness of curling up with Letha.

“We should probably get going.” She yawned and nuzzled a little closer. “C’mon, Lethy, you know if we are here for much longer than we’re gonna fall asleep, and then who knows what could happen.” He almost shutterd. Buruul was not the safest place to live, and sleeping out in the wild next to a dead animal would be a death a sentence. He stood up sharply, throwing Letha off into the snow. She growled for a moment and then huffed and shook herself free of snow again.

“Oh, hush.” He smiled at her and then took both of the thick strands of woven grass that hung from the makeshift sled, handing one of them to Letha as he took the other.

“You ready? It’s not gonna be so bad. Varrick showed me this trick where the wood slides across the snow like none other.” He hefted it over his shoulder and began to pull. Letha followed suit, and together they began to haul the dead bear across the snow. The sun had finally started to come up, breaking the dark of the early morning and slowly introducing a soft note of warmth to the snowy plains. Hauling the enormous brown-furred thing was tiring and dull work, but he knew it would be worth it. Varrick and Bellona would eat their fucking words about his hunting skills.

“You ready for some roast bear, Lethy? Last time mom made it, I was like seven years old and had just bought you in town. That was one of the first things you ate, baby, do you remember?”   
She made muffled growls and excited yips through the woven strand of grass in her mouth, he hoped silently that her sharp teeth wouldn’t cut through the grass to fast.  
“Yeah, I’m excited, too. I hope we still have some of that honey bread.” Almeric’s mouth started to water as they reached the hills that they had walked through on their way to the tree line. With the hills and the weight of the bear, their trip back home took about three and half hours, but by the end of it, the two of them were almost running towards the inciting smells coming from the massive stone and wooden bulk of Stoneguard Manor. As they walked up to the precipice of one of the side gates leading into the courtyard, Evise, one of his younger sisters greated him.

“Well, well, well, I guess I figured out where you’ve been.” She raised her eyebrows while staring at the bear and giggled. She had just turned twelve, which meant in the Stoneguard tradition that she could now roam the lands and grounds unaccompanied.

“Just open the gate, Evise. Letha and I are tired and we brought food for the family,” he replied, looking as exhausted as he could. Catching on, Letha helped this effort by dropping to the ground.

“Relax, I’m doing it, I’m doing it.” She rolled her eyes at him and then pulled a small ripe peach from her thick winter cloak and took a bite. After another bite, she set the fruit down, and then began to turn the wheel to open the gate. The wood creaked and moaned before the snow, and the base of the wall lifted and pushed aside as the thick wooden planks slowly split apart in the middle and opened out. Almeric sighed as he and Letha pulled their sled into the courtyard. He could hear the distinct sound of sparing coming from the front yard of the manor.

“They already came back from their hunt. Varrick and Bellona caught a fat doe each and hauled them back before dawn.” Evise smirked and took a third bite from her peach, further taunting her older brother. Almeric gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to play into his sister’s game, but she knew how to get to him.

“Yeah, well, do you see this thing, here? This fat fucking thing? This is a bear, a big goddamn grizzly bear, and its gonna give us way more meat than both of those deer together.” Almeric didn’t look at her; he and Letha just kept pulling their sled further into the courtyard. When they rounded the corner of the main building, he could see his older brother and sister, dueling with practice swords and wooden shields in their armor. Bellona spotted him first and stopped for a split second, making a face as if she was going to speak.  
WHACK! Varrick wasn’t aware right away, and the swing he had started before the pause struck Bellona on the side of her face.

“UUAAHH,” she exclaimed, dropping to the ground and gripping her face after yelling in pain, “Varrick, you dipshit, what the hell was that?!” She leapt up and scowled at her golden-haired brother. Almeric started laughing heartily and Letha joined in.

“Hey, shut up Almeric. If Varrick hit you like that you’d be out damn cold for hours. Where did you find that?” She gestured to the bear while rubbing her face softly.

“Sorry, Bell, you know I didn’t mean it.” Varrick chuckled very slightly before starting to stretch out and look at Almeric’s wood and grass contraption.

“Do you mean the bear or the thing its on? Because I made the thing and killed the bear.” He said smirked at his older sister and she scowled back.

“No you didn’t. Where’d you find it?” Bellona spat back.

“Yeah, you couldn’t kill that thing. You must have come across its body after it was attacked.” Varrick chimed in, taking a few steps to stand next to his sister.

“Yeah? Well, explain this.” He took the arrow from his quiver that he had shot the bear with. It was still bloody and fit perfectly into the forehead wound of the great big beast. “And this.” Letha walked over to the neck wound of the bear and put her mouth right on it in a perfect shape.   
Varrick and Bellona grimaced at him without anything to say. He had proven them wrong, and he and Letha decided to walk past them, smirking, on their way into the entrance hall of their manor. They didn’t hear the sound of sparring again the entire time they walked past the huge open wooden doors into the entrance hall of the manor. They were greeted on their way in by Almeric’s father, Loric, and two of his younger brothers, Kennick and Jorris. His father laughed heartily and with great mirth, and, complemented by his massive chest and deep voice, the sound nearly shook the entire room. 

“Almeric, Gods have mercy, look at the size of that thing! How’d you take it down?” He continued to chuckled as he walked over and clapped Almeric on the back with his massive calloused and gloved hand. It would have been painful if he wasn't so used to his father’s strength and size.

“Letha ambushed it, and got ‘im in the jaw.” He reached down and scratched her head as he spoke. “Then I shot it here, in the forehead. I still got the arrow, it was such a clean shot.” He couldn’t help but beam. Even though his father was no stranger to praise, it still made him feel like a child again. Shooting arrows for the first time before being lifted into the air and spun like he was nothing while staring excitedly into the bright blue eyes of his father.

“Aha!” he laughed for a second more, “The ol’ tag team. Well done, you. We’re gonna eat well tonight, boys,” he shouted again, and slapped Almeric on the back. Kennick and Jorris cheered and took the thick grass strands from Almeric, starting to heave at it and making very little but steady progress. The boys were only eight and twelve, but like most of the Stoneguards, they were already starting to grow big and tall.

“Uvrik!” Loric shouted, shaking the beams and hinges once again. They heard footsteps from far up in the manor, and after another minute of Almeric’s younger brothers struggling, Uvrik showed up to help with the bear.  
“Why don’t you come spar with us Almeric?” His father asked after the three younger brothers pulled the bear off to the kitchen.

“Sure, let me grab my stuff and meet you in the courtyard.” Almeric and Letha ran off excitedly - this was only the second time his father had offered to let him train with Bellona and Varrick. The two of them had been sparring with his father for almost two years now, but Almeric was only fifteen, a full year younger than Varrick and Bellona when they began with their father. He ran through the main hall where his sister’s Caylia and Siveis sat near one of the many fire pits of their home, studying tomes and practicing some basic spells. They reached the base of the stairs and started bounding up them four at a time, and they almost collided with Heira who was walking down the stairs, still yawning from sleep,

“Sorry, Heira!” She began to protest, but Almeric was too fast and reached the fifth floor, where he would find his room, before she could say anything. He ran past his younger cousin’s room where Galo and Yula sat and played with some hand-carved and sewn toys. 

“Hi, Al,” they shouted as he ran past. They reached the red-brown wooden door to his room and he flung it open, and once inside he gathered up his items for sparring: his dull sparring sword and wooden shield, and the set of leather padded armor his father bought for him a few days ago for the start of his tranning. Once the armor was secured and his shield strapped to his arm, he grabbed the sheath of his sword and sprinted back down. He ran down the stairs with new vigor and made it out into the courtyard in minutes, where he saw Varrick and Bellona battling sword and spear in hand against their massive father wielding a bo staff. The sound of wooden thwacks filled the air and was peppered with the grunts and roars of his two older siblings, as Bellona lunged with her sword pointed at his father’s neck. Her sword was swatted away in a flash with one half of the bo staff, and with the other half, Bellona was smacked across the face and sent to the ground. Loric laughed.

“That was a good lunge, Bell, but you’re gonna have to be quicker than that.” He smirked, trying to bait her, but Varrick’s spear tip swung at his head, interrupting the large man’s taunt. He spun his staff around and swatted the spear out of the air, and then jabbed Varrick in the stomach with the end of his carved dark wooden staff. He fell to the ground with a loud thud and Loric laughed again.  
“If only the two of you had the speed and skill to match your energy and enthusiasm, then maybe you could land a blow on your old man.” His laughter continued as he stroked his small salt-and-pepper beard, the two of them sitting in the snow rubbing their respective wounds and looking exasperated and exhausted. 

“There he is. You ready for the fury, Al?” His father tossed his staff in the air, caught it, and the spun it around at a vicious speed. His father’s intimidation would do nothing to waver his confidence. Almeric dashed at him, shield raised and sword held back in a ready position. The bo staff strike came fast but he was ready, his shield intercepted the blow part way through its arch, and he swung his sword. His arm barely made it past his torso before the other end of his father’s staff struck him in the chest and knocked Almeric off of his feet and into the snow behind him.

“Almeric, don't swing your arm from so far back. You gave me more than a full second to respond.” His father looked down at him, but kept smiling all the while. He heard the voices of Varrick and Bellona laughing at him from where they sat on the opposite side of their father. Loric spun on the spot at a blinding speed.

“And just what the hell are you two laughing at? Until you two land your first damn strike, you have no right to laugh.” They stopped laughing immediately and gave expressionless faces.   
Almeric leapt up onto his feet and charged again, this time with his sword in front of him pointed up, but his father was waiting for Almeric to attack first this time. He feinted a stab and pulled it back in an instant, and Loric fell for the bait and swung the bottom end of his staff at the feint. Almeric took this opportunity to put his shield in front of his shoulder and charge the old man, but his father’s reaction was swift and he pulled back fast, causing Almertic to fall forward with the weight of his charge. He felt an intense, sharp pain in the back of his head as the top of the staff was brought down on him after his fall.

“Haha, ah!” His father grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted Almeric onto his feet. “That was a good feint, Al, but you need a better follow-up than a shoulder charge, my boy. Try punching with your shield. Instead - think of it as another weapon, not just a defensive tool. You see that, Varrick! That’s how you feint a stab. You need to pull your arm back fast as you can. You did good, Almeric, I knew starting you soon was a good idea.” 

Loric rubbed Almeric gently on the back of the head where his bo staff had connected, and they made intense eye contact with each other and Almeric had to focus hard to not tear up. But, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his siblings charge at his father and himself. Varrick’s spear and Bellona’s sword were both outstretched as they ran at the two of them. Letha began to growl, but Almeric wasn’t worried. He had a surge of self assurance and he was ready to give these two what they had coming. He stepped forward in a flash and swatted Varrick’s spear away to the side with his shield, and then took another step in and struck his older brother on the side of the neck. He turned to his sister, but Loric had already taken her out with a swift thwack in the shoulder. Almeric and his father helped them up out of the snow and the four of them went back to sparring. They continued on, bashing their unsharpened weapons against each other as the sun got lower in the sky. The three children had just been thwarted again by their father’s defense when they heard the dinner horn.

“Alright, let's get going, you three. Let’s see how Al’s bear tastes,” Joric said, stretching and yawning, and they all laughed as they walked inside, rubbing tired limbs.


	7. Champion of Wrath

Akiva Za’laia Grand Countess of Galavadra

9th of Delroth, 751 A.O.

Champion of Wrath

 

Akiva, and the men who traveled with her, arrived on the shore of Vijel only minutes before the sun had set on the small island fortress off the northeast coast of Galavadra. The mission to find and recapture the Young Elf was of utmost importance, but that did not stop them from needing food and rest. She and her guard stepped off of the black iron walkway of their ship and onto the wooden dock. They were greeted by the dock master in red and black Galavadren officer’s attire, and Akiva was instantly annoyed by the man. His pointed nose and slick black hair reminded her of a butler or a master chef, not a military man, and definitely not the dock master of Vijel. This place had seen hundreds of sieges and fended them all off just the same - to think that it was being led by this pompous fool almost burned her inside.

 

“Greetings, Countess.” He bowed his thin, ornately-covered body low and stayed there in the extended silence before Akiva’s response. Akiva may have been in a hurry, but she 

had to see just how pathetic this little worm was. She let him hang there in that suspended low stance for at least three minutes before finally speaking.

 

“What’s your name?” she asked, so angrily and forcefully that the man shivered in fear as he answered.

 

“P-P-Pavros, your Grace. I am dockmaster here at Vijel and son of-”  **_WHACK_ **

 

He was cut off by the back of her hand finding his left cheek and sending him to the ground, where he laid in shock, rubbing his face as if he had never received pain before. The state of the men in her army led her to the thought that this was more possible than she wanted to believe.

 

“You sniveling little shit, do you think I give one ounce of Rattata shit about your father? Do you know who I  _ am _ ?” 

 

“O-Of course, Lady Akiva, you are our grand countess-”

 

“Then you will know how I came to power, and how it had nothing to do with my lineage. What I care about is the quality of my people and what they can offer me. And to me,  _ Pavros, _ ” she spat his name out of his mouth like it was rancid meat, “you have no worth until you prove it. Now get off your ass and show me to a local inn.” 

 

He hurried up onto his feet, brushed himself off, and fixed his hair before walking quickly toward the bulk of the fortress city saying, “Of course Countess, right this way.” He stayed several steps in front of Akiva, and several times on their walk up the polished stone walkway, he looked back at her with a horrified expression. She met his worried glances with a stern eye and her own sour expression, always causing him to snap back forward in a flash and take several hastened steps. 

As they walked past the docks and through the first layer of gates into the city streets of Jigel, Akiva was greeted and saluted by everyone she walked past. Many children would run up to get a closer look and then scurry off, giggling and shouting with glee. Many men and women gave her soft sideways glances that Akiva so easily recognized as attraction. 

After the time Akiva had spent with the Thussain prisoners and Jayla, she couldn't help but be disappointed in her own people. How were they so much less attractive? What could Uvara have done to that forest to breed such beautiful people? As she walked, however, she did have to appreciate some of her Galavadren citizens for not all of them were such axe wounds. The eye of a young black-haired woman who stood behind her jewelry cart caught Akiva’s attention. Their fierce eye contact lasted a beat before the woman quickly looked away with fiery, blushed cheeks. The young woman’s flustered face made Akiva smile and almost forget about the sniveling little shit who claimed the title of dockmaster here at Jigel. She could not get over this face and her mind kept jumping back to it every time she laid eyes on the tiny man. They reached the Inn after rounding a corner and entering a large town square, where the large old wood-and-iron building sat at the far corner, looking into the square. Once inside, the man who sat behind the counter nearly fell off of his chair at seeing his Grand Countess step under the low hanging door frame.

“Your Grace! I would never have dreamed of being blessed with your radiant presence and brilliance. Why, I would have cleaned my inn for months if I had known, I would have bought all new sheets an-”

 

“Yes, yes, enough. I need a room with a desk, a very large meal, and some parchment and quill. And, then, my men will need a room as well. They may double up if you don't have adequate space for all of us.” She snapped at the man, looking around at the curios on the wall.

 

“Of course, your Grace, right away.” He ran off so fast to fulfill her wishes that he knocked his chair down to the floor with a thud. Akiva glanced at one of her guards, nodding and giving him a look of command, and the man took the few steps needed to make it to the stool and put it back to its original state. Then she waved her hand leisurely, dismissing her men. They made their way casually to the bar and each ordered a drink. Akiva didn’t mind their leisure; they sailed long and hard to get to Jigel and they would all enjoy this night and get an early start in the morning. For now, Akiva had business to attend to.

 

“Men,” she shouted at them, and they all spun around to look at her. “We leave before first light. If you are not at the docks in time, your punishment will be swift and severe.” She turned and walked to the innkeep, who had just come down the stairs with her room key, and she snatched it out of his hands.

“I want my meal soon. It's been a long journey and I’m hungry.” She nodded to him before charging up the stairs, her metal boots stomping hard with each step. She walked down the hall to find the seventh room, same as the number on her key, and inside was a large desk topped with a stack of parchment, several large quills, and a large pot of ink. She was instantly pleased at the sight of the desk and at the general quality of the room. The bed was also large and round as a circle, and she sat down on it to remove her boots. The mattress was soft and made her ass sink perfectly into the supple, yet firm, bed spread. She quickly changed from her armor into her more comfortable underclothes, and then pulled the chair from the desk, sat, and stared at her letter. If there was one thing that Akiva despised about ruling, it was writing these gods damned official letters. The tediousness of writing out titles and formal greetings made drove her mad. 

 

_ Dear most honorable and noble… _

Writing words like this always reminded her of her finishing school from childhood back home in Whitestone Cove, named for the tall white cliffs its built upon. She did very well in her reading and writing lessons but she had never been more dissatisfied or bored when droning away for hours on end it that old red stone building. 

_ We, the Galavardens, have finally struck a blow against the nightmarish warrior clan, the Thuusains _ .  _ They have remained hidden away, plotting at domination, but no more… _

Akiva heard a knock at the door.

 

“Your Grace, I have your meal, here.” The innkeep said sheepishly.

 

“Ah, good timing. Come in, my good man.” Akiva could not help but be friendly to those who brought her food - she just hoped the food was good for the sake of this inn’s survival. 

“What have you got for me?” she asked as the man pushed the door open with the silver platter of food.

 

“Well, my countess, I have always prided myself on my cooking here at the Long Iron Inn. In fact, half of my customers are locals who come for dinner on nights when they don’t feel like cooking. I charge moderate prices, and I cook my food with passion, just as my mother taught me. So, I made for you a few of my specialities: fresh honey-baked bread rolls, a couple of turkey wings fried in pork fat, and a nice veggie hash for your health, my Grace.” When the man was finished speaking, he looked both proud and worried. He knew that if he failed in his meal that he may not survive the night. She picked up one of the turkey wings and inspected its golden brown color; the smell was more than tantalizing, but Akiva didn’t let her hunger show on her face. The skin crunched as she sunk her teeth into the meat. Juicy would have a been a horrible understatement of this man’s skills, and Akiva thought she would bolster this man’s confidence by showing her true feeling of the food.

“Mmmmmm.” She rolled her eyes back and groaned in delicious pleasure, instantly bringing forth a wide smile on the face of the inn keep. She ate another four large bites of the wing and then wiped her face.

“Gods be damned if that isn’t the best turkey in the land. Bring me a barrel of your best mead and a chilled mug.”

 

“Of course, your Grace, enjoy your meal.” He had new life in his steps as he made his way out the room and down the hall. Akiva sampled the other foods and was just as pleasantly surprised with the soft and slightly sweet bread, and the perfectly cooked spicy and savory blend of vegetables. 

 

“ _ I ought to offer him a position as my personal chef. This food is incredible _ ,” she thought to herself as she ate the plate of incredible food in front of her. It was the perfect distraction from the monotony of writing her letter to the Noyushkians. The innkeep came back quickly with an enormous chilled mug and behind him walked in Bushi, one of the soldiers with her, carrying the small barrel full of mead. The innkeep was a small man, so it was no wonder he asked Bushi for assistance with the barrel.

 

“Aha!” Akiva was glowing at this point, full of delicious food and real happiness - she couldn’t contain her feelings and didn’t want to. “Very good, men, very good. And, innkeep, I’ll take another plate of this marvelous food, and get to work on some breakfast cakes for my trip tomorrow. We will be gone before first light, so you will leave them wrapped on the counter. If they are anything like this dinner, you will be hearing from my master treasurer very soon.” The man’s face beamed like he had just laid eyes on a newborn child.

 

“Thank you, your Grace. Thank you! I will get to it straight away.” He ran off in an excited hurry. He had probably never expected a visit from the Grand Countess of Galavadra to end with a glowing compliment and a promise of wealth from the royal treasurer. After Bushi had set the barrel down on the back left corner of the desk Akiva sat behind, he turned and took a few strides out the door and down the hall. 

“Bushi, come here a moment,” Akiva said before turning the nozzle and filling the icy metal innards of her mug with golden mead. “Bushi, I would like you to head down Jigel’s main street - the one we walked up on our way here.” She drank a few large gulps of mead before wiping her mouth and continuing, “Make your way to the jewellery cart I saw on our way up and inquire about the name of the beautiful young dame I saw who sat behind it. She caught my eye and I wish to learn who she is.” Bushi smiled very widely before bowing his head low and swiftly making his way through the hall and down the stairs, closing Akiva’s door slightly on his way out. She drained her mug and then continued at the delicious food.

 

After her third plate and most of the barrel being drained, Akiva had finished her letter to the Noyushkians and another second letter she would drop at the jewellery cart on her way out of town. She yawned and stretched, feeling sufficiently drunk and satisfied. Akiva put her letters into their maroon envelopes and sealed them with the gold-and-black royal Galavadren seal. She wanted the attractive woman to feel as if she could not help but open the letter, and what better to convince her to do so than the official seal of royal Galavadra?

She took a trip to the washroom to clean her face, hands, and chest with warm clean water to relax and help her sleep. Akiva then untied her long blonde braid and began the slow process of brushing it out with her hands. On her back from the washroom, she ran into Bushi, clearly on his way to see her.

 

“Ah, my Lady, I have the woman’s name for you. She is Ila Gellavora. I was as shocked as you were at hearing this,” he said in response to the face of shock that Akiva had made upon hearing the name.

 

“You’re sure she said Gellavora?” Akiva was instantly shocked out of her state of drunkenness, “Bushi, the Gellavora family is as old as Galavadra itself - you’re  _ sure  _ she said Gellavora?” 

 

“Extra sure, your Grace. I asked her three times and then asked her about it. She told me a story about Admiral Rylor that you would not believe. I won’t bother you with it now, but if you do spend a night with her some day, I implore you to ask about it. And, with that, my Grace, I shall leave you for the night.” He bowed low again and then turned to go back the way he came. 

Akiva couldn't move for a moment. She had always known that Tior Gellavora had moved here after he retired, but she never had thought he would have made a family. Akiva made her way back into her room and calmly closed the door, blowing out the low candles and slipping her way into the large soft bed. She mentally signaled to Titan back on the ship and wished him a pleasant night. He gave her the same sentiment and the warmth redoubled. The gentle embrace of sleep found her quickly, and the alcohol in her belly, combined with the warm Mareep wool and cotton blanket, left her warm and cozy as she drifted off into a deep sleep.

 

Akiva’s red, black, and gold armor glinted heroically in the light of the midday sun, as she looked upon the fields of Galavadren warriors clad in their own red-and-black armor. Akiva stomped her foot down hard on the large rock she stood atop. Her ornate gilded boot hit the rock hard, causing several small chunks of chipped rocks to fall to the ground below. Her enormous contingent of warriors then all cried out in harmony with the call of  _ AKIVA HAIL _ . The sound of the call was a symphony of voices, and, to Akiva’s surprise, the majority of them were female, creating a haunting quality. The columns of soldiers were laid out in front of her in sections of ten by twenty with a large open path through the army, lined with men holding spears facing inward. Akiva stamped her foot twice more to a resounding echoing response of three loudly synced breathy grunts then  _ GALAVADRA.  _

She then nodded to a woman in command uniform on the ground to the right and the woman shouted,“Run em out,” cupping her hand to her mouth to amplify her already-resounding voice. Akiva started it off with another resounding stomp, beginning as a slow rhythmic stamping of a few polearms per each battalion of warriors. It grew slowly and steadily until the resounding call of poles striking the ground shook the earth and could be heard from dozens of miles away. Akiva’s soldiers spread out past the visible horizon and the music of their weapons filled her with a sense of divine purpose, as in the distance she could see movement from the middle of the opening in her army. 

After another few minutes, the movement became identifiable: four Aggron carried a palanquin on their shoulders. Atop the palanquin was the chained body of a thrashing and wailing body of Liadra and her beloved Tropius, screaming in pain as guards who surrounded the contingent poked and prodded them with flaming hot spears. They marched in a straight line past the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and all the while the rythmic sound of the Galavadren poles striking the ground echoed throughout the grass- and rock-covered plains. Soon the palanquin was at the foot of the large rock, where Akiva stood tall, proud, and beautiful. The chanting and stamping of weapons silenced the very instant Akiva put her hand up. She took a long deep breath in and paused a moment before exhaling and steeling herself to speak.

 

“Galavadrens,” her voice was amplified by some magic she did not know of, the rich tones of her voice echoing across the plains like a rolling storm. “The time has come. We have found the Elf Mother.” The crowd roared loudly in response, but their cheering died out suddenly when Akiva rose her hand again. She steeled herself for more speech just as a titanic echoing thrum broke the silence.

 

Akiva bolted upright, throwing the blue and purple woven blanket off of her and onto the floor.  _ What the fuck could that sound have been? _ Akiva had never heard anything of that caliber in her life - it sounded like a torrent of water being shot like a cannon, but with unfathomable speed and power. 

Akiva shuttered as she felt the cold of the early morning on her skin, causing her hairs to stand on end, though she thought that the shutter had more to do with her dream than the brisk morning air. She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her large hands and let out a long, low sigh. Her dreams had become more and more vivid in the past several years, but this was something new. She spun and put her feet on the ground before standing up and stretching herself out and then cracking her neck twice. The Grand Countess got dressed and collected up her two finished letters and stowed them away on her belt. After tying her hair up and back, she made her way out of the hall and down into the main room of the inn. 

On the front counter, she saw a small wicker basket covered with a white cloth. Akiva felt childlike excitement as she unwrapped the cloth to see what the man had made for her, and she saw, to her delight, an array of beautiful looking savory and sweet breakfast cakes. Akiva first sampled the one that smelled of bacon and sharp cheese; she felt pure joy and an instant burst of energy. Two more bites and the cake was gone. 

She took the basket and walked out the door, making sure to keep the noise down. On her way down to the docks, Akiva stopped by the jewelry cart that Ila worked at. Akiva stuffed the letter in a crease near where her the stool sat and then continued on down the road to the docks. She made a right turn up a smaller street to make her way towards the falconry. Once she got to the tall building, she gazed at where was it was spackled with rooks where falcons flew in and out of, and she was happy to see a man working the front counter at this early hour. 

 

When he noticed Akiva walking up to him, he perked up quickly and bowed low before saying, “Your Grace! What brings you to our little falconry here?” He had a wide toothy grin with buck teeth and a severe overbite.

 

“I’d like this letter sent to Nyodria post haste. Send your fastest falcon and make sure it’s fed well before it goes. This letter is of the utmost importance, my good man, so see to it that it is looked after well.” She nodded to him and handed him a letter with Noyuskah written across its envelope, then turned and walked back to the main street of Jigel. Once she turned back onto the larger stone road, she was pleasantly surprised to see her four men on their way to the docks a few hundred yards ahead of her.

 

“Not bad, men, not bad,” Akiva thought to herself while fighting back a small grin. She quickened her pace to catch them when suddenly they stopped. But, it wasn’t just her men who stopped - the birds chirping and singing in their trees, the sound of the waves and the breeze, even a flow of sea birds flying above were all frozen in time.

 

“Akiva.” A grumbling, low, and powerful-sounding voice rang out from behind her like a growing storm. Akiva spun around to see a tall maroon-skinned and white-haired man standing in front of her her. She was stunned for a moment. Not only was the appearance of this man incredible, but his mere presence seemed to radiate strength and raw power. Akiva began to feel stronger with every passing second she stood before the man.

“Yes, that’s me.” She had uncertainty in her voice, which was unusual for Akiva, but she didn’t have the capacity to think about it while looking at the glowing figure. “But, who are you?”

The man’s laughter in response to Akiva’s question shook everything around her, yet it all stayed in it’s petrified state. 

 

“Know you of the gods, young Akiva?” The man’s smile was warm and genuine, but it didn’t hide his aura of power and primal fury that Akiva knew could be unleashed in a second.

 

“Somewhat. I know more of their children and the legendaries, however.” Akiva remained stoic in her response

 

“Ah, well, that is understandable.” He chuckled again and the heat emanating from him grew slightly. “Galavadra does have a myriad of information hidden away for those smart and capable enough to go after it.” His backhanded compliment filled Akiva with a grand surge of confidence and purpose, the likes of which she was not familiar with.

 

“So, you are one of the gods, I take it?” Akiva said, still meeting the man’s fiery gold and orange eyes.

 

“Correct you are. I am Idarr, god of wrath. And you, young Lady Za’laia, you are to be my champion.” Akiva just stared at him with a slightly opened mouth in stunned silence. She wouldn’t know what to think even if she had the capacity for thought at the moment. Idarr saw this on her face and laughed again, but this time with real glee.

 

“For the first time in her life, is the great Akiva lost for words?” His laughter continued for a beat; he closed his eyes and grasped at his stomach, leaning back with his mirth. He wiped a tear from his eye, and as it hit the ground it sizzled and burned a small hole into the earth.

 

“What do you mean? How would you know if it was the first time? And what do you mean I am to be your champion? I dare not demand anything of a god, but I need some answers.” The cool demeanor she had maintained was broken with her last words. Idarr’s smile vanished and his face broke into a silent anger. He took a deep inhale and paused before exhaling thick dark gray smoke from his flared nostrils.

 

“Do not test me, Akiva. Being the god of wrath, I am not known for my patience. And you are right, you  _ dare _ not demand anything of a god. Yet, I do owe you those answers.” He closed his eyes and took another breath, this time letting out a much lighter gray smoke, almost as white as thick nimbus clouds. “But, I cannot explain everything right now. Meeting you here down in the mortal realm takes a lot of energy, and seeing as I have to hide it from the others in my pantheon, we have little time.”

 

“I am deeply sorry, lord Idarr.” She bowed her head low before speaking on, “I do not do well with the unknown, my Lord.” This made him smile again and chuckle slightly,

 

“Oh, I know, young Akiva, I know. For now, I will explain what I can. A while ago, the gods had a meeting. Tensions had become high ever since the connection of our two realms was cut off and it was time to formally discuss things. In this meeting, we came to the agreement that we would all be given three options to choose from to regain our ties with your world. One of these options was to choose a child from birth in this realm and influence them on their way through life, and I chose you. Actually, each of the gods chose this option. You had a strong bloodline, and from birth you were already destined for greatness, but when I chose you as my champion, you, well, became enhanced. Have you ever wondered just why you are so brilliant and ridiculously strong? Or why you are a natural at everything you have ever tried?”

“Akiva, you have godly essence inside of you and you haven’t even begun to experience its potential. This is a lot to take in at once, and I will be back to speak with you when I can, but know this, young Galavadren: you are the Champion Of Wrath.” The heat around him burst into a living dark orange and gold flame that engulfed Idarr’s body in full for several searing hot seconds then the flames ceased and he had vanished. It took another few moments for time to return to the world, but Akiva stayed silent and still staring at the spot where the god had disappeared. After a few minutes, she snapped out of her stunned state when she noticed the hole burned in the stone road from the gods tear. “So it was real, that really did just happen. I am the Champion Of Wrath,” she thought to herself, as she started her footsteps towards the docks once again. It took quite a few more minutes of walking to reach the dock where Bushi and the other men stood waiting by the readied ship. She was still shaken from the meeting with her patron god, but she would not let her men see her as anything but impeccable.

 

“Step to, men. Those crate are for our journey. Get them on board,” she snapped at them without looking while she made her way up the dark iron ramp into the small ship. The men loaded the crates onto their ship and pulled the ramp and anchor back into its bulk. They sped off from the docks through the early morning air southward, making their way around the large sea castle. Akiva leaned on the rail at the bow and stared off into space in deep thought. Bushi approached from behind her.

 

“What is it, Bushi?” she asked with a harsh tone and without turning her head.

 

“How’d you..?”

 

“You step heavy on your right foot every third step - not much, but it's enough to notice if you are paying attention.” Akiva cut him off before he finished his question. He leaned against the rail next to her.

 

“Everything alright, Lady Za’laia?” He sounded genuinely concerned about her, and not due to fear like she was used to.

 

“Everything's just fine, Bushi, in fact.” She stood up tall and puffed her chest out, feeling a haunting of Idarr’s warmth that surged within her - the same confidence he filled her with. “Things are wonderful. I am the Champion Of Wrath, Bushi. It is now your job to spread that title among our ranks. Our whole civilization should know me as such.” 

She flicked her wrist, dismissing him. The Grador sun broke above the mountains in the east, the light of which caught Akiva and filled her with warmth. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, feeling an ancient power inside her. Akiva’s pale red eyes opened in a flash as she exhaled, letting loose a small puff of light gray smoke.  


	8. A Less than Humble Request

Kyrie Thorell Princess of the Equaldras

11th of Delroth

A Less than Humble Request

  
  


The dry dead grass crunched beneath the large hooves of the flaming white horse and the enormous black-and-gray armored dog. The young princess Kyrie Thorell sat atop the majestic fiery horse without fear being scorched by its ever-burning mane. She reached down to stroke the alabaster white fur of her horse, thinking about just how long they had known each other. She and Eeyta had been together since before Kyrie’s memories had fully started to form and the bond they had built was that of dear friends and veteran shield mates. 

The name Eeyta came from naming the newborn ponyta while Kyrie was a young age. Normally, the horse would have been raised and trained for several years before being given to any high-born children in Equaldras. Yet on the day the young princess was brought into the world, her father Keldor had communed with the mages, grand archivists, and all historians or anyone with any real knowledge of magic in the world and commissioned a great task of research. In their research, they found ancient records and tomes of knights who were raised with their Ponytas from birth, forging a bond beyond what the knights of Equaldras knew of today. Even beyond that, they discovered that those were born with magic inside who forged this bond with the majestic fire horses had their power and skill in magic increased tenfold. Kyrie, being the firstborn of the wealthiest king in Equaldran history, was given a newborn ponyta to grow and learn with. 

The research had more than paid off due the size and strength of her Rapidash and Kyrie’s ridiculous magic power, potency, creativity, and raw talent in the mystic arts. The thick aspen canopy of leaves overhead was a majestic variety of orange, yellow, and red that let though small beams of golden sunlight and Kyrie could not help but feel at peace looking over at Flaise, her Houndoom, who was happily darting his head around at all of the various sounds and sights on the forest path. 

 

“What are you looking at, boy?” Kyrie asked while the large Houndoom fixed his eyes on a point out in the forest. Flaise made an excited grunt and wagged his body with vigor. Kyrie patted Eeyta on the side, signalling her to stop, and she swifty dismounted and started toward whatever was disturbing Flaise. She took a few short steps off of the cobblestone path to see into a clearing, followed closely by Flaise while Eeyta stayed on the road, hoofing at the dirt with bored huffs. In the clearing, she saw a small Taillow pecking at scavenged pile nuts. Flaise started growling and crouching his head down, ready to attack.

 

“You dummy, it's just a little Taillow. You gotta learn to just let it go, buddy, that tiny little Taillow wouldn’t even be able get close to you.” She scratched his head, though the Houndoom was much taller than Kyrie and she had to stand up on her toes to get a good angle. She started back towards the road and then snapped her fingers twice, calling Flaise back to her. She mounted up and scratched her Rapidash on her long white neck before gently but firmly kicking at her side. 

Eeyta started up her trot and Kyrie whistled, signalling her two Pokemon to sprint down the canopied path. The White Wood was only eight miles from her home in Equuia Falls so the ride back to the east gatehouse was a short one; soon Kyrie, Eeyta, and Flaise all stood atop the crest of the road where it wound down the side of an enormous light gray cliff, speckled with green brush and small waterfalls. They had to ride slowly down the narrow winding path so as not to slip on any stones or puddles of water. When they were in sight of the grand ornate white stone gatehouse, Kyrie heard the familiar low horn as the metal gate was slowly raised, letting the three of them in. 

The white carved stone streets of Equuia Falls were as clean and welcoming as ever, but much less alive at this early hour. Many workers and shop owners were just waking and getting started with their tasks for the day as Kyrie rode by them, and nearly every Equaldren citizen she rode past waved or greeted her.

 

“Oi, princess!” A tall, gruff-looking man waved her down as she neared his cart.

 

“Morning, Belth. How’s it all?” Kyrie replied, nearing the man and dismounting.

 

“All’s well, my lady. Back from a hunt?” He finished setting his cart up and had just begun pulling bags, boxes, and bowls from below, getting ready to make his pastries.

 

“Yeah, I wanted to take Flaise here on a hunt, since he evolved the other day.” She scratched the large Houndoom on the head.

 

“Ah, yeah, I heard he had changed a few days ago.” He inspected the large black-and-grey dog, “How’d the big fella do? I mean, he was always big, but now just look at him.” Belth whistled when he was done speaking, arms on his hips, looking at the enormous Houndoom before him. 

 

“He did well. Now that he’s nearly seven feet tall, I implore you to find any deer that can outrun him. I think Flaise is gonna have a good time being a large Houndoom. Well, Belth, I’d best be off - gotta get back to the castle before breakfast is all cleared away.”

 

“Always good talking to you, m’lady.” He waved her off before returning to his work. She remounted Eeyta and started her way back down the carved stone path though the east market road. Kyrie adored where she lived and grew up, from the green ivy vines covering nearly every building and giving the white city a beautiful spackling of green leaves and purple flowers, to the red brick parapets on the walls and along the corners of all large buildings and outer walls, and to the small crystal blue streams that flowed through town in carved paths. The east market road took her and her two Pokemon to the stables of the Palace Thorell, and she dismounted Eeyta and gave the reins over to an attendant who came up to greet her with a bow. 

 

“Thank you, Wallace.” She nodded curtly to him as he took the black leather reins and walked her beautiful Rapidash away to be fed, brushed, and washed. Kyrie and Flaise made their way down the ornate garden path through the massive courtyard at the precipice of the castle. Sitting at the foot of the grand staircase that lead into the main keep was her main attendant, Feylara. Kyrie had expected to see her attendant waiting for her when she returned, but not with such a worried expression.

“Fey? What is it?” Kyrie asked while pulling off her gloves and tossing a piece of meat from her belt bag to Flaise.

 

“Princess, it's your father. He’s been pacing up and down his chambers all morning. While you were gone, a letter was sent to the palace all the way from Opiath, with a seal your father said he had never seen before. And once the records were checked, the last time we had received a message with this seal was one hundred and seventy years ago. Princess, the seal was that of the Thuusains.” Feylara spoke in a panicked haste and refused to meet Kyrie’s eye.

 

“And? What did this damned letter say?” Kyrie did not have a short temper and was almost always in a good mood, but something about her attendant’s mood was worrying the princess. Flaise started to growl and look around, sensing her mood.

  
“The letter was written in worried language by Captain Anaklees. The captain wrote without the knowledge of his superiors because he believed that their forest was in grave danger. His letter spoke of impending doom from the south, from Galavadra, your Grace.” Kyrie nearly burst into laughter from hearing this.

 

“Galavadra? Fey, that salty patch of rocks hasn’t made a peep in hundreds of years. Besides their metal ships that bring us our shipments of iron and steel, Galavadra doesn’t do anything, Fey.” Kyrie started to walk away towards the palace, nearly shrugging it off before Feylara grabbed her on the shoulder and said.

 

“Your Grace, do you not know of Akiva? The woman who took over rule of the entire Kingdom in one fell blow? Kyrie, you need to see your father. Now.” There was a serious look in Feylara’s eye, one which Kyrie had ever seen the likes of in her handmaiden before. She re-doubled her pace back towards the palace and flew up the white marble staircase two at a time, throwing off her riding cloak as she briskly walked through the large rooms and well-kept and decorated halls of Castle Thorell. Soon, she came across the brown, white, and blue door of her father’s office, and Kyrie pushed the door open with a flick of her hand before she neared it. Her father Keldor jumped when the door slammed against the wall and a gust of air hit the table, shuffling around several papers.

“Ahh! Kyrie, dammit, don’t scare me like that,” he said, clutching at his chest and collecting up his papers, stacking them neatly against the cherry wood desk.

 

“Sorry, dad. What the hell is going on? Who is this Akiva person and why didn’t you tell me about her before?” She didn’t mean to shout at her father, but she was flustered and still hadn’t eaten yet this morning, so she was quick to snap.

 

“We only got the letter first telling us of her rise to power a week ago, even though her usurpation was complete nearly a year ago. From what we can tell, Kyrie, she is smart and savvy beyond what we are used to from Galavadra. We sent spies a week ago to Opiath after receiving the letter. You were busy at the time with Flaise. Our first report back from the island has just arrived, and news is that Akiva has transformed her country. They now produce weapons by the thousands and have been amassing a large army and navy. I fear Akiva is dead set on conquest, and even as far as here in Equai’Drell, we would not be safe forever.” Keldor stood up and walked to the window as he finished speaking, and he stared out into the bright green morning fields where several young knights and squires trained with their respective young Ponyta and Houndour. The sound of clanging swords and burning targets was muffled by the thick white stone walls of Thorell Castle.

 

“Father, what are you thinking?” Kyrie had more pressing questions, but she wanted to make sure he was taking everything well. Being king, he had final say over the all of Equia’Drell, and if he called for the military to ride out, they would. 

 

“I am thinking about our future. And, about your future, my princess.”

 

“My future?” Her voice was filled with curiosity; her father was being vague, as always. He turned back to face Kyrie and smiled, obviously hiding his thoughts, but before he could speak, someone knocked on the office door that Kyrie had closed behind her.

“Yes?” Keldor said in his best, most kingly-sounding voice, as he puffed his chest out and wiped all emotion from his face. An older man and woman came in the door, wheeling a sterling silver cart topped with two small trays of food.

 

“My Lord and my Lady, if you two do not eat something soon, we'll be forced into drastic measures,” the woman said, grabbing both plates and setting them in front of each Keldor and Kyrie’s spots on the desk, for neither of them were sitting now.

 

“They worry about troubles on the other side of the world while they wither away,” the man added, chuckling past his thick white mustache. The king and princess sat down.

 

“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Wellsword. I don’t know what we would do without you.” Keldor remained emotionless, taking his first bite off the steaming egg, vegetable, and meat dish.

 

“Wither away and die,” Kyrie answered, politely taking her first bite as well. The two old servants laughed at her comment, as they poured two glasses of ruby red juice and passed one to each of the two royals. They drank and ate with vigor, both forgetting how hungry they were while discussing the letter. They finished their plates and several glasses of juice before the Wellswords cleared up.

 

Mrs. Wellsword smiled, saying, “Now, with some real food in your bellies, get back to your difficulties on the other side of the world.” They bowed out of the room with incredible swiftness and dexterity, especially for older folk. Keldor wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin to his left and then leaned back and patted his thin stomach twice.

 

“We live a clean, protected life here don’t we, Kyrie? Our ancestors fought hard to make it so, but I fear it’s made us soft.” He looked back out the same window at the young knights and their Pokemon training with an air of slothfulness and general glee. Not like the atmosphere of a proper military training ground. Kyrie stood to gaze out the same window as her father.

 

“You’re right, we are a bit more passive here in Equai’Drell. But what of it, father? It’s not as if we are going to war. And even if you think they will wage war, they would never make it to us.” She giggled for a moment and pet Flaise on the neck.

 

“My dear, it may come to that, yet. The iron coast supplies nearly the entire world with its iron, steel, brass, and dozens of precious gems. If Akiva truly intends on domination, then the powerful kingdoms of the world are going to have some difficult decisions to make.” He still stared out the window into the great green lawn filled with sparring knights and scrapping houndour. Kyrie had never thought about the implications of trade connections and war ties, but now they stared her in the face and suddenly the lackluster efforts of the knights and soldiers training in the field set in and dampened her mood.

 

“What are we to do, father?” Kyrie could not break her gaze from the field as she spoke, “If things are to come to violence, what can we do? When even was the last time we fought in a mere squirmish, let alone a full fledged war.” Her tone was filled with her apparent frustration, and her father turned and looked at her with his familiar kind brown eyes.

 

“Kyrie, my beautiful ray of light,” he stroked her cheek gently and smiled wide, “Fret not, my dear. While things are not looking up for us, I do not believe we are dead in the water, though we have much to do if we are to survive what’s to come. The first of which, princess, is a task for you.” 

Kyrie’s head twitched at hearing this - was her father actually going to give her something important to do? That would be a first. She turned to look at her father, completely expressionless, fearing that if she appeared too excited she might jinx this opportunity.

 

“Kyrie, I need you to visit your uncle Falthor over in riverstead. Back in the day, my younger brother was quite the swordsman and an even better field commander. You need to visit him and let’s say… Smooth things over. He and I had a falling out long before you were born and I’m not sure he would receive me if I were to go.”

 

“Then what makes you think I would be welcomed in? If he hates you, then why would he like your daughter?” She couldn’t help but let some poison into her tone. This idea was gods-damned stupid. 

 

“It’s just a gut feeling. He doesn’t seem like the type of man to take a grudge on me and lash out against my children. And, truthfully dear, you are the most capable person in the capital and probably in all of Equai’Drell. In the last few years, your magic has gotten to a point I could never have imagined - that and your skills with pokemon.” 

He looked longingly out the window again, “You are our key to survival. I see the way people look at you; it’s exactly how I look at you. They see you and they see true greatness and inspiring power, they see you and they see a gathering a storm, they see you and they imagine following you into the fray of battle with glorious confidence, surrounded by a great light. I see it all too.” 

Warm wind blew smoothly across Kyrie’s face as she stared out the window, focusing on the Agashi mountain range in the distance. Her father’s words swirled around inside her and throbbed at her mind like embers sparking in a crackling fire. She didn’t know what to say, or even how to look at her father. She just stared out the large pane glass window into the large green field before them.

 

“When should I leave?” she asked after finally meeting her father gaze with a stern look in her eyes. Keldor looked shocked for a moment, probably expecting Kyrie to break into tears and heavy emotion as she was known to do. 

 

“As soon as you can, princess. It’s a five day ride at the least and you’ll need to go alone. I can have camping supplies and food prepared for you at any time.” 

 

“Then I leave today - have the supplies and food brought to the stables. I'll be down a few a minutes, but I need to see mom.” She turned and walked out briskly without giving her father another look. Kyrie marched through the palace at a hastened pace, turning a corner and flying down a hall she made it to a large corner spiral staircase. Taking it two, sometimes three, steps at a time, Kyrie found her way to the large dark oak door at the top in a matter of minutes

She took a few deep breaths to steady her breathing before calmly opening the black wooden door. Inside the round ornately decorated room was a small red shrine, and atop the shrine was a stone carving of a beautiful woman. When Kyrie was little, she would talk to the carving, pretending her mother could still hear her, but she was older know.

 

Kyrie snapped and lit her finger tip with a small dancing flame. She grabbed a small stick of incense and held the end over her finger for a few moments before shaking the flame out, letting thin wisps of smoke into the room. Kyrie placed the incense in the small carved holder that her father had made some many years ago, and then conjured a few orbs of water to fill the small bowls that lie on the shrine. Her process of paying respect to her mother’s shrine was a slow and respectful one and it left the room smelling of fresh fruit and burned wood. Soon enough, she sat on her knees placed her hands on her hips, and bowed a long low deep respectful bow. 

When she closed the door, the rush of air from the door extinguished the last bit of incense as she flew back down the stairs. Ten minutes later, she was bounding out of the large palace doors into the green grass fields towards a contingent of serfs, her father playing with Flaise, and Eeyta being groomed by several attendees, including Feylara.

 

“Ah, there she is. Princess, everything is ready for your trip.” Keldor said, smiling widely and standing up from his scratching of Flasie’s belly.

 

“I’m ready. Flaise, I’m sorry, boy, but you’re not coming.” Keldor and Feylara looked shocked at hearing this. “Everyone relax. Flaise is not ready for a mission that requires haste like this. He would get distracted by everything and I don't have time for his shenanigans.” Kyrie smiled as she walked over to pet the sad looking Houndoom. “It’s okay, boy, I’ll be fine.” 

Not wanting to seem cold to her companion, she stayed and pet him for several minutes, letting him nuzzle his massive face against her chest. She turned to mount her Rapidash, now equipped with two filled saddle bags. Eeyta hoofed at the dirt as Kyrie took the flagged spear from one of her attendants.

 

“Father, what does uncle Falthor look like?” Kyrie realised that she didn’t know a thing about the man, besides his conflict with her father.

 

“Oh, you’ll know him when you see him, trust me.” Keldor slapped the great white flaming stallion on the rear, sending her into a swift sprint. Kyrie didn’t look back as the swift steps of Eeyta’s footsteps pounded on the white stone street out of the city.   


	9. The Ithari Straits pt. 1

Hayleta  
12th of Delroth  
The Ithari straits

Hayleta’s breaths cut through her mouth guard in a small puff in the cold morning air; the sound of oars slapping against the salty sea water and being drawn back was the only thing breaking the tense silence. Hundreds of yards behind them, the Emerald Arrow drifted slightly with the low morning current. It sat atop the water, anchored to a large pillar of stone, waiting for Hayleta and the scouting party to singal. She had ordered for twenty men to accompany her up the jungle-ridden cliffs of the Ithari Straits, so four boats of five each slowly and quietly rowed their way to the nearest island. Kazma the Blaziken, with his black metal jagged sword, and Sparks, the enormous Jolteon, each stood at the aft of one of the ships.   
Hayleta stood crouched with her staff in hand at the bow of the lead ship, anxiety building up inside her as the slapping oars got louder and faster. This was the first time Dravora had asked her to do anything and she knew that if she messed it up, things would not be the same with the dragon goddess afterwards. The dark mass of the island got larger and larger as they approached. When they were close enough to make out the shapes of the beach, Hayleta stood up tall and glazed her eyes over with glowing blue magic essence and began to breathe deeply.   
Looking far past the normal borders of human or elven sight, she scouted the jungle that surrounded the beachhead. Several figures crouched on high branches lied in wait. Their positions were revealed in bright blue sparkling flashes in her ethereal sight and lingered even after she returned her eyes to their normal deep forest green.

“We’ve got company. Several archers are waiting in those trees for us to land. They must have seen us drop anchor and set this trap - the Good Captain was right about this place.”

“The Good Captain?” Nico, the man who sat closest to her, asked.

“Uh.” Hayleta had forgotten this was a term Dravora had used with her and not a name given to him by the Thuusains. “Just a name I had thought of for him.” Hayleta desperately hoped that the goddess would not be angry at her for taking credit.  
“Hah, it's not bad, Lady Calloway.” Nico chuckled for a moment after speaking softly to the others in the small boat. Hayleta sneered at him. Ever since she had first expressed her hatred of being addressed formally, Nico had made it his personal mission to only ever call her “Lady Calloway.”

“Nico, if you call me that one more gods-damned time, I’m-”  
She was cut off by the sound of a sharp of the boat behind them to the right tipping over, violently shaking the sea around it. The blurred red sight of Kazma leaping hundreds of feet in the air was the cause of the sudden disturbance. 

“What the hell is he gonna do?” Hayleta said, looking up into the dark blue morning sky.

“You never really know with Kazma,” Briar said, pulling out his pipe and starting to fill it with the dried green leaf they had smoked on board the Emerald Arrow. Hayleta snapped swiftly as he struck a match across his greave, letting loose a gust of wind to blow out the small flame before it could be seen.

“Hey! Don’t fucking light a match - we still don’t know if they can see us. Why the hell are you trying to give away our position?” Her soft voice was still firm as she reprimanded the large dark-skinned man whose short, curled hair was pulled back into a braid behind his head.

“Sorry, Hayleta. I-I’m not used to this whole sneaking around nonsense. I might not have been the best choice for this mission.” 

“What? Shut up, Briar. Just don't fucking smoke while they can see us and keep your voice low. Plus, if Nico is coming with me, I want you with him. I wanna see this bond in action.” Hayleta winked at the big man. The look in his round russet brown eyes was that of understanding as he stuffed his pipe back in his belt pouch. Nico patted him on the shoulder and began to rub his back. Briar turned to smile at his lover and theyy kissed for a brief moment. Hayleta turned away, wanting to give her men privacy.  
Red light broke through the darkness coming from far up in the sky, where Kazma now fell in a nose dive at the water. Three large fireballs soared towards the tree line where the archers sat perched and waiting. How did Kazma see them? Hayleta couldn’t dwell on that now; she inhaled deeply before unleashing a rush of energy from behind the boats, sending them flying towards the island at breakneck speed. 

“Hold on,” Hayleta shouted while pouring her stream of magical energy into the wave behind them, which was steadily growing in size and speed. All the Thuusain marines in their dark green armor gripped the sides of the boats while their hair braids whipped around behind them rapidly. Sparks stood on the back of the boat without flinching. The fiyery impact on the beach came in a quick succession of three, spreading a thick fire across a hundred yards of the dense tree line. Screams and wails of pains sound outing louder and louder as the boats neared the shore. The boats hit the beach hard and skidded through the sand, leaving behind a smoking trail of charred black sand. Sparks took a long majestic leap from his boat while the marines slowly unboarded andnd spread out with weapons drawn. 

“That blast was less than inconspicuous. Where the hell is Kazma?” Hayleta said, glazing over her eyes again, scanning far out into the jungle.

“There,” A female marine shouted while pointing at the dark ocean. Kazma was soaring through the water, kicking with his powerful red and yellow legs. Hayleta was about to cut her magic and walk over to give the big red bird a piece of her mind but she was interrupted by a sudden presence of formidable power. Just as the presence came into her mind, she lost her connection with her seer spell. As she was jolted back into her body, she was pushed off her feet and fell into the sand.

“Holy shit,” Hayleta said, under her breath.

“Hayleta,” Nico shouted as he and several other marines ran to her side. As they did, the remaining fifteen formed a phalanx around them, holding their up their shields and weapons.

“You alright, Captain?” Nico said, lifting her head up gently.

“Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. .” She stood up and brushed off the sand from herself. “But, we have a problem. While scouting into the jungle, something kicked me out of my sight.” She looked into the distance at the tree line. “And, not to pat myself on the back, it would have to be someone strong to cut me out like that.” Halyeta swung her staff in an arch over all the marines around her, red and blue essence covering each of them in glowing protective aura.

“What, like another caster, or something?” another marine said while still facing the beach. Kazma appeared from the water, drying himself off with small puffs of fire.

“A caster?” Hayleta’s voice was puzzled, yet still commanding.

“That’s what we call mages and spellweavers, captain.” Briar spoke up from her left, in the phalanx with a spear and large round shield.

“Yeah, like a caster. Whoever they are,, they saw me and they know we are here. Although, Kazma already gave away our element of surprise,” she glared at him as he kept staring straight ahead to the burning tree line and huffed, “so, I guess we gearing up for a fight. But, I suppose they did have an ambush already set up for us.” Kazma huffed again and crossed his arms before drawing his sword.   
Without order, the Thuusain marines split their phalanx into two squads of 9 in a wedge formation with Kazma, Hayleta, and Sparks in the middle. They all stood slightly crouched,, ready, and waiting for any movement or any sound. The distant crackling of the burning treeline still roared as trees fell over. The wind picked up, whipping Hayleta’s braid around at an frenzied pace. Her fellow marines shifted around in the sand, nervously feeling the whipping wind against their faces.

“Brace yourselves. This is no natural breeze,” Hayleta shouted over the sound of the torrential storm now tearing across the breach. A crimson glow glazed over her eyes before she stomped the butt of her staff into the andearth, creating a fast-swirling bubble of air around her warriors. They were safe from the wind storm that was now ripping trees out from their roots and creating dozens of small sand cyclones that formed a large ring enclosing the Thuusains.   
Hayleta made a snap decision, thinking that the enemy mage must been channeling this wind. She flourished her staff in a large circle above her head, almost throwing out her arms out due to the speed of her motion. The silvery white orb of air surrounding them expanded out far and fast,, destroying the sandy tornadoes around them and making its way far past the the tree line. The wind storm broke with the magically-echoed sound of screams coming from where the trees had just been put out. .  
The Zienien mage smirked before stamping her staff into the sand once again. Braided strands of sand started to curl their way up the long black wooden staff, floating around the glowing red stone at the head in diamond shapes. She then closed her eyes and took a long deep breath before shouting loud and casting a huge rushing firestorm at the trees. Not a second after, the storm of curling red flames made their way up the beach. Hayleta thrust the head of her staff forward, sending the now hundreds of sand diamonds through the fire. 

Hayleta shouted, “charge,” as the storm of fire and glass shards flew at the tree line. The marines and Pokemon around her had no hesitation. They all sprinted across the charred sand towards the sounds of burning moans and wailsil. She led the charge at first, but was quickly overtaken by Kazma and Sparks, who zig-zagged across the beach faster than Hayleta could believe.   
A volley of small luminescent purple orbs shot out from the now-visible Galavadren mage's wand at the sprinting Blaziken and Jolteon. Kazma flipped and spun over the volley and let loose a few quick blasts of fire from his beak. The mage’s attack was not fast enough to catch Sparks, as his legs took him across the sand so quickly he looked like a golden blur.   
Soon enough, the Jolteon made it to the treeline and started to run down Galavadren warriors scattered across the surrounding jungle. Hayleta focused back in on her main target as the rushing sound of arrows sliced through the air at them. Her marines had no trouble blocking or dodging the incoming missiles, so Hayleta was free to focus on offense. Aiming for the enemy mage, she sent three arching red beams out of the glowing tip of her staff. The bald, robed man swatted away the beams with three quick swipes of his wand, each clash spraying sizzling white sparks all around him, burning the ground.   
He responded with his own flourishing motion, sending a shockwave at the ground around her. The impact knocked her off her feet and launched her forward, hurtling towards a brown stone rock. Hayleta was about to catch herself with a spell to ensnare the sand, but was interrupted by Kazma catching her after leaping from more than two hundred feet away. He landed gracefully and let her down onto the sand gently. Kazma then glared at the Galavadren mage , fists clenched at his side, daring the bald man to make a move. The Thuusain marines sprinted their way past the threshold of the sand and into the trees to run down the enemy archers; Hayleta, Kazma, and Sparks all surrounded the scowling mage.

“You’re surrounded, imp, Lay down your wand and prepare to be captured.” The distant sound of the Galavadren archers being chased down and killed drew greater tension to the man’s difficult position. His sneering ceased after a few seconds of meeting their eyes and the bald man let go of his white wood wand and fell to his knees.

“I know when I’m beat.” His deep voice was full of shame. Kazma started forward at the man, Hayleta had assumed, to grab him. But, as the tall red pokemon reached the man kneeling and looking down to the sand below he drew his sword and took the man’s head off with unworldly speed. Hayleta gasped as the man's head fell and started to dye the nearby sand deep crimson red.

“Kazma, what the fuck?” She ran up to him and and glared up into his small yellow eyes. He stared back with fiery intensity. Hayleta could almost feel the Blaziken’s thoughts as they continued to stare into each other - she felt immeasurable pain and anger roaring up inside and fueling his internal fire. Hayleta felt a strong urge to comfort Kazma, rather than yelling at him. She put a soft hand on his upper arm and took a deep breath.

“I get it, really, I do. Just next time, maybe take your anger out on someone else. This one might have known things.” The Blaziken looked shocked and then embarrassed for not even two seconds before returning to his sharp-beaked neutral face. “It’s okay, I know you’re furious about your home. And, Kazma,” she had to lean on her tiptoes in order to put her hand on the side of his warm face, “I promise you will have your fill of revenge.”   
He grinned at her and put his clawed hand gently on her shoulder. The sounds of the battle coming from the forest steadily died out. After another few moments, her marines started coming out of the treeline, shields plastered with arrows and gash marks, but all looking healthy and jogging towards Hayleta and the two Pokemon. 

“Hail, captain,” Nico shouted at her as they all filled in before her in two ranks of nine. Sparks and Kazma stood atop a pair of tall brown rocks and stared intently at the slowly-dying fire just before them. in the trees

“At ease. Well, we came across resistance a lot sooner than expected. We’d better send word back to the ship. I have a feeling this isn’t all we have waiting for us here in the straits.”

“On it, cap'n.” A woman Hayleta had not yet met sprinted off after saluting, before Hayleta could ask anything of her or anyone else. Hayleta watched as she sprinted her way to one of the rafts and started to hastily row. Hayleta spun back around to face her marines, still standing at ease in their two rows of nine. Hayleta flicked her wrist and summoned a rectangular polished granite slab topped with crystal bottles of ice water and platters of food.

“Eat up.” Hayleta grabbed one of the many crystalline bottles and began to drink the cool clear liquid, refreshing herself and slowly filling herself with renewed energy.

“Damn Cap'n.” One of the men spoke in an impressed tone. Hayleta spun round, whipping her long black braid across her chest. All of the marines, standing ten yards away, stared at her with raised eyebrows or coy smiles.

“What?” She spoke after a few seconds. As she did, they broke ranks and made their way to the refreshment table.

“Captain, we are no strangers to magic, but what is with the extravagance? We are used to Ov’leil and her mages whipping up a couple of waterskins and fruits, not all of this.” Nico grabbed a bottle and stood with her, putting his small brown hand on her shoulder. Hayleta appreciated his candid attitude while she scoffed and chuckled at his words,

“Waterskins and fruit? What are you, Mankeys? Gods be fucking damned, is she a piss poor caster or just lazy as all hell?” Her words let loose a torrent of mirth and jesting between the marines around her. Hayleta couldn’t make out much of what they were saying, but she heard several words jumping out at her though the noise of there jokes. “Thaedres” and “foreign beauty” now echoed in her brain along with the fading strings of their jokes.   
A crack in her shell of self confidence slowly snuck up on her and started to make its way into her thoughts. She pushed her thoughts down with another large swig of clear water and refocused on her warriors, who stood in a moment of temporary silence, due to their mouths working on large bites of food. They held their half-eaten sausage rolls and game pies and nodded to each other in approval. Nico swallowed his bite of game pie and wiped his mouth before speaking.

“Ov’leil is neither a bad mage nor a lazy one, captain, but she isn’t a fan of extravagance.”

“What’s wrong with some extravagance?” Hayleta smiled at him coyly and grabbed a small pastry of her own, starting to eat.

“Do you know anything about her, captain? I mean not to accuse. It’s only that I fear you know not of how she came to be one of the Thuusains and how it has affected her.” Hayleta crooked her head to the side slightly at hearing this. She had never once considered that anyone of the Thuusains might not have been born into them. 

“No, I’m not familiar. I had assumed most of you were born in the forest and were raised as part of them.”

“A good assumption captain, as most of us are. Or have been for last few generations, however, Uvara and.... and Thaedren used to go out into the world to go on errands and cryptic missions, and sometimes they would come back with a young companion. Ov’leil was one such a child. They found her on the streets of T’vis, scamming her way into a hot meal with some quick illusion magic. She learned from Uvara, mostly. They took quite a liking to one another and Ov’leil couldn’t help but take after Uvara, almost to the point of mimicry.” 

“So really it's Uvara who isn’t a fan of extravagance, then, isn’t it?” Hayleta asked, tone more serious than before.

“Well, she does live in a tree, you know.” His joke sparked a few half-hearted giggles from the surrounding marines, most of them still absorbed in their food. The relaxed air after their battle was unsettling, but Hayleta knew that if danger came within a thousand yards of their position, she would sense it, so she ate without a care. The platters of food slowly emptied and the crystalline bottles drained. The Thuusains in their dark green armor beamed with new energy. Several of themm started to stretch out their limbs and dance back and forth on the tips of their toes, clearlyy feeling the power of her refreshments.

“See what a little extravagance can feel like? I bet Ov’leil’s summoned waterskins and fruit cannot compare to my bounty.” Hayleta’s smile was full-fledged now. She felt elated by giving her warriors something so good and watching them dance about. And, not able to hide her feelings from herself, she felt a sense of superiority knowing that her summoned rations far outweighed Ov’leil’s. Hayleta drained the last of her own clear glass bottle and set it back on the gray black slab of granite. She snapped a finger on her right hand and, in a flash, the large stone and all that was atop it vanished with a dull humming sound.

“Do we have any bows with us?” Hayleta spoke up, gaining the attention of the surrounding warriors. She looked around at the large red-brown rocks. “Our position here is much better than I had initially realized, but I can’t be our only threat from afar, can I?” She focused hard to make her tone non-accusatory.

“No, captain. You have eighteen battle-hardened fighters, but, unfortunately, not many of us did well back in the days of archery training at boot camp.” Nico was the one to respond, as expected.

“How many do we have aboard the Arrow?”

“Dozens cap’n. I’d say ‘bout 50, give or take.” Briar called from the back. Seeing his height compared to more of the marines was astonishing - he must have been 7 feet tall.

“Let’s hope many of them join us. I’m not sure, but something about this feels more sinister than it should be.” Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to the treeline, scepticism and doubt edging around in her mind. For a second, she thought she saw shadows dancing and darting around, but nothing could have slipped by her. The Zienien Arcane Academy made sure that Hayleta’s magical sense and vision were beyond impeccable. She gasped as the silhouettes shot past her sight again.   
All of the Thuusain marines drew weapons and stood unflinching in a readided stance. No sounds were heard, except the soft crashing of waves on the sand. After another minute of silence, a sharp whistle broke through from the ocean behind them. Hayleta turned to see several dark green rowing boats, filled to the brim with marines. 

“Help them onto the shore. Time is of the essence, now.” She nodded to Nico. He tapped several men on their shoulders and they darted over to the ever changing shore line. Another few minutes went by of waiting and watching while Nico, Briar, and several other marines helped unload the crates and marines from their row boats. The marines either joined ranks facing the treeline or set up barricades and weapon racks around their position. Nico and Briar took the time to set up a first aid tent and then set about boiling a few large pots of water. Hayleta’s mind was still ablaze with concern and dread. What the hell could move around so close to her like that without being detected? 

“We need to send a scouting party into the jungle. This waiting game is not gonna play out in our favor if we stay so clustered. Dalwin, Hobbs, Era, take fifteen and make your way long around the west side of the beach and into the base of those trees there. Send a flare up if you find anything, and send two if immediate backup is needed.” She pointed to a large clump of trees across the sand, and the warriors she spoke to rounded up their troop and made their way up the coast to the wood.

“Gellevor, good to see you. Round up the most physical of you all and let's get some trenches going. How much would you all bet that our dear friends the Galavadrens have started their deforestation efforts?” Gellevor, five large men, and two large women set out with shovels and started to dig. Her question was met with sharp looks and stern gazes, “Easy, I mean not to infuriate. But, if they have begun, then I have something to work with. Do we have any tea?”

“Tea?” Nico shouted incredulously from behind the newly set up first aid tent, “Why do you need tea?” He stormed out through the white canvass flap in a huff.

“I do not need it. I simply asked if we had any. Tea calms the mind and makes difficult magic easier to perform.” Hayleta unhooked her twin swords’ sheath from her back and set them standing against a rock beside her. 

“Alright, let's get the captain some tea,” Briar shouted, whipping his way out of the white medical tent. Hayleta couldn’t tell if he was being a pain or if he actually had that much enthusiasm for tea.

“Captain, we have seen you do some crazy things already with your magic, and now you’re saying it's gonna be further amplified. What the hell are you planning to do?” A marine she didn’t know from her original eighteen loudly questioned from atop one of the rocks.

“Just a bit of summoning, nothing fancy.” Hayleta took the short walk from out of the cluster of brown rocks into the open sand of the beach just a few feet away. She closed her dark green eyes and began to breathe deeply, preparing herself. She stood in the sand and took several long deep breaths before Briar strode over, carefully holding a small cup of steaming tea. Without opening her eyes Hayleta, took the cup from the man and began to sip it loudly. Despite the heat, she drained her small green stone cup in a matter of moments. She thrust her hand out and clenched it tightly before slowly turning it over to face the ground. With one last long breath, she gathered up all of the willpower and energy she had and began to channel.   
A swirling white mist started to form and spin around her as Hayleta’s spell started to take effect. Snaps and pops started to fill the air and with them came piles of neatly stacked wooden planks and boards, iron rods and bands,s and several buckets of nails. The stacks started to form large cubes in a semicircle just before where Hayleta stood still pouring her magic through her hand. The marines gathered around in awe of the now dozens of pallets of supplies. Hayleta stopped the flow of magic through her and felt significantly drained.

“Briar, another cup, if you would.” She put her hands on each hip and stretched out her back while roaring a great sigh of relief. “Damn, this is more than I expected. I can’t imagine what they are doing to the forest. Her tone soured as she thought of the Galavadren slashing and burning the great green wood. She turned to see the dozens of marines staring at the neatly stacked pallets of supplies, “What are you all waiting for? Let's get some real defenses around.” Just as she finished speaking, the warriorss around broke from their stunned silence and began to dart around, supplies in hand.   
Briar came jogging up with another steaming cup of tea. Hayleta grabbed it from him with a kind nod and began to sip. She kept her eyes intently focused on the treeline while her warriors worked furiously on fences and a small tower. The dancing shadows still plagued her thoughts with unease. Their position soon became as defensibled as a small fort and just as they were running out of material, a bright red spark shot up into the sky from the tree line. 

“Looks like we got something. We need to leave a small force of defenders. We need to keep our medical tent and boats safe, otherwise this venture could end poorly.” Eleven of her warriors broke off from the main contingent and positioned themselves around the barricades and on the tower. “Alright, on me, we make our way up the west coast just as they did before. We still have no idea what we could be up against, and the last time the Galavadrens got the jump on us… it didn't go well.” She stared at her swords, still propped up against the large brown stone. She put their sheath on her back as it was before and began walking down the path of footprints in the sand as she finished speaking.. FFollowing closely behind in ranks of seven by three were her marines and walking alongside them was Kazma and Sparks. Hayleta didn't need to say anything. She knew the two veteran Pokemon would accompany them. As they walked, Hayleta spun her staff round and whipped up a quick fog to cover their travel. 

“Oi, cap’n, what the hell?” Briar shouted from the back row of one of the ranks.

“The hell is I don’t want us to be seen or heard, so keep it down will ya?” She snapped back without turning from her line of sight. She kept the fog realistic and wispy-looking but with still enough body to fully enshroud her warriors. The mage was nervous about coming across trouble so early in her mission. The trip up along the coast took their ranks a good ten minutes before reaching the green of the treeline. Waiting for them, standing ready and weapons drawn, were Era, Hobbs, and Dalwin with their warriors clustered around trees, looking on edge. 

“Era, what happened?” Hayleta asked, looking around at the troubled expressions of her marines, meeting several of their eyes.

“We were ambushed not fifty yards from here. As you can see, we had no casualties.” Era answered evenly, still holding her readied sword.

“Yes, I see that, well done. But why the flare? What have you found?” Hayleta was beginning to feel their sense of worry and her own fusing together in a wicked amalgamation of anxiety.

“That’s just it, isn’t it? We don’t know just what in the hell it is. Hobbs thought it best if we retreated to the edge of the jungle so we might be easily seen. As I said, it's not far from here. We were attacked while inspecting the damn thing.” Hayleta’s curiosity was piqued and her eye’s snapped the direction that Era was glaring at. 

“Did any of them get away?”

“No, captain. We got ‘em all.” Era’s voice hinted at pride. The blood stains on her sword matched her indirect boast.

“Then it seems we have a clear path. Let’s see what the hell this thing is.”


	10. The Ithari Straits pt. 2

Hayleta

12th of Delroth

The Ithari Straits pt 2

  
  


Hayleta loomed over the large obsidian stone, staring intently into pulsating blood red veins of gemstone that ran all throughout its core. She had never seen anything like it - the way the red light poured across its veins made it feel almost alive. A faint warmth hummed around it, seeming to draw energy from around them, and Hayleta could feel the pull of magic. Sparks and Kazma the two Pokemon accompanying them also seemed to be drawn to the almost magnetic pull of energy radiating from it. 

“What is it, Captain? Is it a magic object or or some sort of egg?” Era asked, leaning in close to look intently at the thing.

 

“Well, it’s definitely not an egg.” Hayleta and a few soldiers chuckled for a moment. “And it  _ is _ certainly magic.” Hayleta couldn’t manage to look away from the thing. Its allure was truly enticing, reminding Hayleta of the Museum of Magical Curiosities back in Zein. But, there was something different about this object, almost as if it was alive.

 

“What do we do with it?” A soldier spoke up, peering over the crowd of onlookers. Hayleta slowly touched the thing with the palm of her gauntleted hand, expecting some horrible explosion or to trigger a horederous trap. Nothing came of it, however.

 

“I’m not sure, our mission still comes first, but I think it would not be wise to leave it here. You three,” Hayleta pointed to three burly looking Thuusains, “come here and see if you can lift it.” Hayleta said while placing her other exposed hand gently onto its warm mass. The large marines positioned themselves around it, placed two spears on the ground at both its sides and gave it a heave. 

 

“Is it very heavy?” Hayleta’s face was wrought with concern. She couldn’t hide her anxiety any longer. This thing would plague her thoughts until the mystery of it resolved.

 

“Not any heavier than a boulder of same size ma’am,” the lead marine replied.

 

“You want us to take it back to base camp?” The other marine asked in her deep but melodic voice.

 

“Yes, place it in the medical tent, but make sure it’s out of the way. Era, you and a few warriors go with them, And you know what? Kazma, you go, too.” Hayleta pointed to the female who had lead the scouting party into the jungle. “I’m not really sure, but something tells me that our Galavadren friends know about this thing.” Her words hung in the air and spread unease across her marines. Kazma leaptwa onto a tree branch above them and started off towards the beach, jumping from branch to branch.  The small party lead by Era made their out of the jungle and back towards the water. Hayleta turned to do a quick count of the warriors they had they. 

 

“Thirty- four, thirty-five, thirty-six,” she said under her breath as she finished counting. “Alright, everyone, form up. We are sweeping through this jungle in squads - stay in sight of one another. Sparks, you go with group farthest from me. I know you will keep ‘em safe.” The marines broke into groups and fanned out. The group around Hayleta was only comprised of six other marines. Sparks walked several long graceful strides before breaking into a light jog. Two-hundred yards away on either side, she could see the squads lead by Veol and Gendren. She flashed a bit of light with her fingertip. They both signaled back with similar flashes of light, and they made their way through the jungle. 

 

Slowly, the squads worked their way through the thick and treacherous jungle. Hayleta couldn’t keep her mind far from the object now back at their camp. Several of her squadmates commented on how the jungle didn’t look so extreme from the outside. Enormous roots and arching branches made moving through the colorful floral landscape an arduous task. Between the clusters of labyrinth-like trees and poisonous colorful plants and massive stoney chasms blocking their way, their journey took half a day.

 

“Son of bitch,” Hayleta exclaimed as she and her squad of six made their way up to the top of a large hill, pushing aside a wall of enormous round leaves. As she and the marines around her peered through the lines of leaves, they saw the base of a gigantic cliff face going thousands of feet up into more thick jungle.

 

“Don’t suppose you have enough energy to get us up there, Captain?” One of her men said patted her on the shoulder as he spoke. 

 

“Hah! I wouldn’t even have enough for another conjured rope bridge let alone teleporting us all up there. I would need some water or a replenishing potion and some real food.” She wiping a beat of sweat off of her brow, and sighing in exasperation. They all took a moment to sit and lean against some smaller stones around them, taking a cue from their captain. Hayleta flicked her wrist lazily and summoned a large crystal basin full to the brim with ice cold replenishing water,

 

“Hey Captain, how come you always summon our water in crystal containers?” 

 

Hayleta chuckled with her eyes closed and her body draped over the grass below. “I used to ask that question to my teachers all the fucking time,” her eyes snapped open and she tilted her head up, “Do you know how much more annoying it is to learn to summon crystal-wear than other containers? But now it’s nigh impossible for me to do it any other way, but at least crystal gives water a little bit of a replenishing enchantment.” 

Hayleta laid back down onto the warm and soft grass after her short tirade. Her marines laughed at her exasperation and they all drank heavily from the crystal basin of slightly shimmering water.

 

After a few minutes of lounging, Sparks the Jolteon came sprinting up to their group, mounted by Veol, directly to Hayleta, who stubbornly kept her eyes closed.

 

“Captain, this cliff continues along the entire width of the island. But, we found a path up.” Sparks made a grunting noise and turned his head to make a face at Veol, “Sorry, big guy. Sparks found a good path up. It was covered by a canopy, but he found it.” Veol scratched behind the enourmas Jolteon’s ear as he spoke. Hayleta took a few moments standing up and doing a quick torso stretch

 

“Nicely done, Sparks. Any word from Era and the party that took that glowing stone back to the camp?” Hayleta asked, whisking away her summoned basin of water with another wrist flourish. 

 

“Yes, Era and Hobbs ran back and met up with us on our way up to the cliff face. No trouble on the way back to camp, but apparently Kazma is feeling anxious, pacing around and not letting the stone out of his sight.”

 

“Hmm, that’s a bit concerning.” She scratched at the back of her head and took a few steps around where the basin had been. “Alright, Veol, I’m putting you in charge. Round up the squads and get them to the top of this cliff. When you all get up there, I want you to draw me a glyph. Do you know how to draw a glyph?” Hayleta tried not to sound at all condescending when she asked.

 

“No, but I know Kevesh in Hobb’s squad learned about glyphs from Ov’leil. In fact, I think she's quite good at the non-combat magics.” Veol respond at once, clearly affected by Hayleta’s sense of urgency. 

 

“Good, good. Okay, tell her I need her to draw an extremely ornate teleportation glyph, and, Veol, the bigger the better on this one. I'm going back to camp and seeing what's up with Kazma. If something is wrong with that stone, then I want to know about it.” Hayleta said as her eyes glossed over a shimmering blue color, she drew her staff and waved it over herself in a wide arch. Her spell washed over her like water, turning her skin translucent and and a shade of sky blue. Her squad mates looked concerned for a moment but then almost in unison they shrugged it off and walked along the cliff face towards the other end of the Island.

 

Hayleta then turned and began to spring at an unnatural speed, enhanced by her ethereal state. Her spell also made her phase through any object or terrain she came across. Due to the nature of being ethereal, whenever Hayleta came across one of the dozens of ravines along the route back to the beach, she simply leapt over them, less affected by gravity than she normally was. It took her no longer than a half hour to reach the beach. She cut the spell off as soon as she left the treeline. 

Only a hundred feet or so to her right, the wreckage of her spell left a black scar on the otherwise beautiful line of jungle trees. She ran the rest of the way back to camp without the use of magic, still nervous about what could be happening, wanting to conserve her energy. As she got in sight of their camp, she saw the tall figure of Kazma pacing rapidly, clutching his jagged black sword in his hand. 

 

“Kazma!” She ran directly up to him, ignoring a greeting from Gellevor. He snapped his head to meet her eyesight, then looked back to the stone with a more-than-panicked expression. “What is it?” Hayleta started to feel secondhand anxiety from the Blaziken, his pacing now peppered with worried huffs of smoke from his sharp beak. 

 

“Kazma, you’re worrying me. What’s happening? Gods fucking damnit, I wish I could communicate with you.” Hayleta clutched at both sides of her head, her anxiety swelling up inside her like a raging storm. Hayleta began to breathe in deeply and let it out slowly when she and Kazma both snapped their heads to a feint thrum that echoed from the volcanic stone. They both stood absolutely still, staring with unwavering concentration. The thrum echoed out again, this time loud enough to shake the land around their camp. Hayleta’s heartbeat slowed just so she could wait and listen. 

None of the soldiers who had come over to view the thing were making any semblance of noise. Seconds passing felt like hours as the dozens of eyes stayed fixed on the glowing stone. They watched as a pulse of more intense red light flowed across its crystal veins. The same thrum sounded out, much louder than before. The following shockwave flew out with such force it ripped open fissures in the sand and toppled every one of the Thuusains around their camp. Hayleta pushed herself out of the crater in the sand caused by the shockwave. After a moment, Kazma and her marines did the same. 

 

“What the fuck was that, Captain?” Briar called out from where he was crawling out of his own sandy crater. Hayleta didn’t answer - her mind was ablaze with all the possibilities of what could be happening. Before her mind grasped onto something concrete, a much brighter light sparked up the veins of the stone. Hayleta knew that this shockwave could be deadly to her marines. She acted with no hesitation, whipping up a bright shimmering silver shield around her warriors just as the black rock thrummed again. The resulting shock wave tore apart the beach like a hurricane, shattering large rocks and send tidal waves into the water. 

 

Hayleta, Kazma, and her marines all shielded their faces from the bright red flash of light. The shockwave shattered Hayleta’s magic barrier. They all turned back to where the stone had been, but it was gone. The sand was burnt black where the stone had lain, but their attention was quickly turned to the sea. A whirlpool was foaming and churning slowly between two large pillars of stone cliff hundreds of yards out from the beach. The whirlpool grew in size and intensity while they looked on in stunned silence. A new noise sounded out from the sea. In a burst, a massive sphere of inwardly-swirled ice jettisoned out of the water, breaking the whirlpool, magically chained to both of the pillars with bright blue icy links. 

 

“Captain, what the fuck?” Gellavor ran up to her side. After a few seconds of unresponsiveness. he put his hand on her shoulder and shook his captain. 

 

“Ah!” Hayleta shook her head, “How the hell am I supposed to know what’s going on? You think because I’m a mage, I just know things?” She didn’t mean to be so accusatory, but tensions were clearly high with everyone around. 

 

“Well, what are your orders? We need leadership,” he spat back.

“Get me some tea. Better yet, have Briar make me a huge pot of it.” She made a pulling motion with her left hand, sending her staff flying into her hand. She stamped it on the ground and summoned the necessary tools and ingredients for a firepit and a pot of tea. “Next. let me see you form up in a tight phalanx. I know we don’t have shields, but be in defensive formation anyway.” Hayleta broke free from her anxious bonds with her commanding tone and swift task assigning. 

 

“Yes, Captain.” Gellevor turned to yell for Briar and the two of them set about making her pot of tea. Gellevor then turned to shout orders to the marines who stood dusting themselves clean of the dark sand. Hayleta then turned her attention inward and began to focus and swell up all of her energy into her next spell. But, just as she was deciding on the intricacies of her summon, the world around her familiarly paused and Dravora stood facing Hayleta. Her expression was wild and unfamiliar.

 

“Hayleta, stop.” Dravora’s dragonsong voice sounded more vibrant and powerful than it had been in their previous conversations. 

 

“Dravora,” Hayleta sputtered, breaking the stream of her magic, sending a small shockwave up her spine. “What are you doing here? And what is that thing?” 

 

“That is why I’m here, young witch. It’s a temporal glacial prison. A godly seal was placed on Varana during the wars leading up to the Obliteration. She is, or rather was, locked away under the sea in that icy sphere until now. That black and red stone must have sped up the spell somehow.” Dravora turned to face the stone pillars out at sea while she spoke.

 

“So, you don’t know what that rock was, either?” 

 

“No, I have my suspicions, but it would be unwise to dwell on them now. But, Hayleta you needn’t worry: Shavora is my oldest and closest friend and her children are almost as dear to me as my own. It’s about time we had an answer to Kuvosh.” Hayleta now understood the expression on the dragon goddess’ face - it was that of excitement. “Hayleta, I need you to deliver this message to her from me, and I need you to say it in my exact words.” 

Hayleta quickly whipped all thoughts from her mind and nodded in agreement. “As soon as she greets you, say nothing else but this,  _ Oh daughter of the azure, when the storm falls from its throne in the sky, whom would be there to catch it?   _ And then explain who you are.” 

 

“Dravora, I don’t understand. Why don’t you just say this all to her?” Hayleta asked, feeling nervous about the reality of talking to this demigod for Dravora.

 

“Long ago, we the gods were forbidden from direct contact with our children ever again. We can only deliver them messages and signs. I am out of time. Remember my words, Hayleta.” The dragon goddess faded out and time returned to the world, just as a massive crack burst into sight on the face of the glowing blue sphere. Another crack sprung to life, connecting to the other. The spiderweb of thick fissures in the icy prison rumbled for a moment before the sphere burst aparat in a rain of tiny shards of ice. The shimmering chains from the pillars slowly dissolved and withered into nothingness. Where the prison had been, the figure of a woman now hung in suspense in the air, thirty feet above the untamed waves. Hayleta’s marines began to form a line in front of her.

 

“No, stand down. I don’t think this is a hostile,” Hayleta said, waving them down. The woman had large blue feathered wings and bore dark blue and icy white tinged robes. She was holding a large staff topped with a swirling mass of blue crystals. As she turned to fly towards the beach with long elegant flaps of her beautiful blue wings, the contrast of her dark brown skin and her sharp blue robes became more and more prominent. Her white curly hair was flapping behind her in soft bounces, giving her an aura of playfulness and unseen power. 

Hayleta felt an entirely new feeling coming from the approaching angelic figure; she was inspired and in awe of the woman, but also humbled by the presence of raw magical energy emanating from her. She slowly drifted down to the sand after closing the gap over the waves. The sand below her unshoed feet turned to ice and snow. Hayleta stepped forward, taking the brief moment of silence to speak first.

 

“ _Oh daughter of the azure,_ _when the storm falls from its throne in the sky, whom would be there to catch it?”_ Hayleta’s face betrayed no emotion as she stared into the now stunned face of the beautiful demigod woman.

 

“What? How did you..? Who are you?” The woman's voice was much higher than Dravoras. It somehow both sent a chilling sensation down Hayleta’s spine and filled her with a warming comfort. 

 

“I am Hayleta, Dravora’s champion and her bridge to the mortal realm.” She had to physically fight off a smile when looking at the angelic figure before her, as every inch of the woman was a magnificent sight to behold. Her beauty was so intense that dozens of the marines behind Hayleta dropped their weapons in a mixture of exasperation and attraction. To sell her beauty even further, the dark skinned angel smiled in response to Hayleta’s words, causing a female marine to faint. 

 

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Hayleta, Champion of Dravora. I am Varana. Many have given me all sorts of titles over the years, but you may simply call me Varana. What happened? How am I awake right now? I was sure my imprisonment would be for another three hundred years at least.” 

 

“Actually, that is still a topic of concern for us. It has to do with a stone we found in the jungle. Dravora had some thoughts on it, but she couldn’t tell me in the time she had to speak.” Shavora’s daughter was beautiful and created an aura of cooling humor.

 

“That sounds like Dravora, Aunt Dragon.” She laughed again, this time with more enthusiasm. It was so infectious Hayleta started to chuckle for a brief few seconds. 

“Wow, seven hundred and fifty five years go by and you really don’t recognize much,” she said. looking around at the brutally devastated surrounding landscape. Hayleta couldn’t help but laugh at the demigods joke, and this made the beautiful woman smile heartily. “I like you, young caster. I’m glad to have met you. And you are with my old friends, the Thuusains. This is truly a joyous meeting.”

 

“You were friends with the Thuusains? Do you know Uvara?” Gellevor stepped forward to ask his question.

 

“Of course! She and I have countless good memories together. Is she here?” The angelic Varana was now beaming at the mention of her demigod friend. Hayleta was thinking of how to properly respond when the sharp sound and sight of a flare shooting up into the sky broke her concentration. The flare came from deep in the jungle and its origin was from much higher than they stood on the beach. 

 

“What is that?” Varana’s voice now had a hint of concern to it.

 

“A signal from my men on the ridge - I need to get there and help.” Hayleta spun her staff around, and prepared to cast. “Varana, I will be back to explain everything, but my soldiers need me.”

 

“Of course, young one. Maybe I'll get to know these fine men and women here. They will fill me in.” She smiled and waved Hayleta off. She took the signal and in a flash, disappearing with a flash of bright light.

When she opened her eyes a half second later, she was crouched down after a slightly rough landing in a large patch of foliage. Era was there to immediately help her captain up, taking Hayleta by the shoulder and ducking down as they ran over a piece of makeshift cover to their right. The sound of burning trees and clanging metal on metal rang in Hayleta’s ears as they dashed into cover.

 

“Son of a bitch am I glad to see you, Captain! We’re under fire! Heavy fucking fire!” Hayleta’s senses were ablaze. “After we made our way up path, we came across the Galavadren camp, they were set up along the edge of the cliffside overlooking the Straits.” 

 

“Were they set up for an ambush?”

 

“That’s putting it lightly. They had a dozen ballista set up aimed at the only opening wide enough for our ships. We were gonna wait and ambush them once we were all together again, or we at least had you or Kazma. But they had another caster with them and he spotted us.” 

 

“How long has this been going on?” Hayleta stamped her staff into the ground, summoning a bright white aura that spun and swirled around for a moment before forming a contouring shield around her. 

 

“Captain, this has just happened. Our flare went up the second that bastard mage spotted us.” Era slammed her fist against a nearby tree and fought back a tear. Hayleta knew the familiar signs of loss all too well, but she couldn’t dwell on it while a battle was going on. 

 

“Get me to the front.” Hayleta stood tall, summoning an orbiting iridescent silver sphere which spun around her slowly at shoulder level. As they ran into the battle, Hayleta saw Sparks sprinting back and forth from Galavadren to Galavadren, killing them with swift bites or bolts of lightning. But Sparks was met with his own strong resistance, a Galavadren Aggron ripped two trees apart as he stepped into the fold and slapped sparks into a rock. Era raised her shield and gripped her spear tight as the two of them jumped over their barricade and dashed into the fight. A small volley of arrows flew at them not three seconds after they were out in the fray; Hayleta swung her staff downward at the arrows. They flew down into the ground hard, half of them shattering on impact. Sparks darted all around the massive metal and stone beast as it thrashed and punched with megaton force, Sparks lighting couldn’t do much to it so he had to chip away.

Era ran up in front of her captain in response to a cluster of three Galavadren infantry charging at them, swords raised and teeth bared. Era tossed her spear up and then shot her hand up to grab it mid throw, using that momentum to throw her spear. The spear lodged deep into one of their enemies chest and he cried out in pain, falling to the ground. The Thuusain woman pulled out a long single-sided knife and held it upside down, waiting for an attack. 

Hayleta raised her left hand and shot a purple bolt of energy just as the two Galavadren warriors lunged at Era. The energy hit one of the warriors in the chest with the force of a meteor, Era swatted away the other’s overhead strike with her round shield, then stepped forward, sinking her knife into the man’s exposed neck. Era darted ahead to retrieve her spear then charge at a nearby skirmish. Hayleta scanned the battlefield, looking for the enemy mage. An explosion rang out far to the right. Hayleta spun her head round and sprinted towards the noise, staff in hand. Any time a stray warrior would approach her, the orbiting sphere she had summoned sent silvery shockwaves that tore them open like bags of grain. 

 

“Captain!” Hobbs was waving her down, huddled down by a large cluster of rocks and trees raised by a small hill. He and four other Thuusains were tensed waiting for another blast from the enemy mage. Hayleta saw him standing on top of a larger hill with two summoned fire elementals, burning bright and laying waste to the jungle. Hayleta rushed up to their side, flourishing her staff and humming a small hymn, giving an aura of protection and energy renewal to her surrounding allies. 

 

“We were charging that little bitch down when...” Hobbs couldn’t finish his sentence, he turned his head to hide his face as it broke into emotion.

“What? What is it?” Hayleta was starting to worry now,

 

“He got Veol and at least six others so far. This piece of shit is gonna kill us all,” Jushi shouted, his voice wrought with emotion. Hayleta channeled her fury into quick action, vaulting over the rock covering her and thrusting her hand forward, sending two streams of water at each of the elementals. 

The galavadren mage leapt backwards. Hayleta then summoned two bolts of lighting from the sky to hit the fire elementals writhing in pain, turning them into piles of smoldering ash. She didn't stop running as she cast, but Hayleta could only move so quickly through the thick foliage and up the hill. The enemy mage took advantage of his position and hexed the ground, causing tremors to roll through the earth down at her. They got bigger and bigger as the got closer to Hayleta, who still ran up the hill.

The three lines of earth, rumbling and breaking up in large shards, all reached her at once. When the stones hit her bright white aura, an invisible wall of force radiated out from her and shattered the tremors of stone. Hayleta reached out with the hand covered in her black gauntlet and pulled, knocking the man off his feet and sending him flying towards herself. She raised her staff over her right shoulder and gripped it with both hands. A red glow hummed and vibrated over the tip of her wooden black staff in the shape of a diamond. She gripped her staff low and swung hard, connecting with the man's chest. 

The resulting spray of blood painted the land behind, leaving behind a grotesque scene. With the mage dispatched, her marines cleared up the Galavadren warriors spread around jungle outside the enemy camp. Hayleta continued up the hill to where her enemy had been.

In the distance Hayleta could see a few of the Thuusains helping Sparks to finish off the enraged iron beast that thrashed and cried metal screeches of pain.

From there, she had a view over the otherside of the hill and into the enemy camp. A mere twenty-five soldiers and engineers remained, guarding the twelve massive black iron ballista that stood on the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea far below. After a few moment, her marines formed up behind her on the hill, Era and Hobbs at the front, both covered in splatters of blood. 

 

“Take them out. Let's try to leave the ballista intact if we can.” Her warriors charged with no hesitation, clearly eager for vengeance. They spinted down the hill and ran through the open gate. The men the Galavadrens had left behind were clearly not ready for the ensuing storm the Thuusains brought upon them. 

 

“My god,” Hayleta said under her breath, looking at the warriors clad in green tearing through their foes like scythes through a field of wheat. She blinked and appeared down in the open space of the camp below, “Good work, everyone. Sack the place.” 

The Thuusains eagerly got to work, tearing the camp apart for anything valuable. Hayleta took a few moments to calmly stretch out her back and limbs before summoning another large crystal basin of water. She then summoned a few stacks of wooden bowls to drink from and an engraved crystalline glass for herself. Scooping up a glassful of water and drinking it in slowly, she sat down, looking out into the sea. She had several cups worth of the replenishing water, enjoying the salty sea air blowing across her face. 

 

“Enjoying yourself?” Dravora asked from behind her, prompting Hayleta to jump and drop her goblet.

 

“What the hell - don’t sneak up on me like that,” Hayleta exclaimed, standing up  and waving the water off herself with a flick of her wrist. Dravora laughed for a few seconds before speaking.

 

“I don’t have long, as usual, but well done, Hayleta. I watched the whole battle and you are beyond brilliant. Thank you for reaffirming my choice in champion.” Hayleta blushed at the high praise. “Do you remember the task I wanted you to accomplish while here? Well, you are very close to the cave where it is hidden. Make sure you find it.” The dragon goddess disappeared in a flash and time returned to the world. Hayleta stood up and whistled loudly. Her marines came running back, several with bundles of loot in hand or slung over their back. 

 

“Drink up, men. We are taking these ballista with us.” Hayleta stamped the ground with her staff and raised her hand, spilling her stores of energy into her spell. As she channelled, the bodies of six shimmering silvery elephants formed from the air. Slowly they came into the world as fully formed beings, saddled with straps and long coil of rope. Her warriors stood stunned for a moment before they went after the piles of summoned wooden bowls.

 

“You never cease to amaze, Cap’n.” One of the Thuusains that Hayleta had not had the pleasure of yet meeting whistled loudly after saying that aloud, causing a murmur of agreement throughout the others. Hayleta chuckled a little in an attempt to remain humble.

 

“After you’re all sufficiently replenished, I want you to take these things apart and tie up the parts. Find out all you can about them in the process.” She looked at the ballista, then at the barrels and shelves of tools nearby. “I have something I have to go do out in the jungle. It won’t take me long.”

 

“What do you have to go and do?” Era spoke up before taking a large swig of water from her bowl.

 

“I, uh, know of a plant nearby that I want to harvest. Just in case.” Hayleta lied quickly. She quickly started towards the jungle behind the camp before any other questions were asked. She walked past the wooden buildings and the large wooden wall into the jungle wilderness beyond. Deciding to make it less of a lie, Hayleta searched for some sarchula flowers. She could use them to enhance her summoned water tenfold. 

 

Hayleta searched the jungle for forty-five minutes before she found a patch of bright orange and red sarchula flowers. She carefully picked them all, leaving as much stem as she could, then bundling them up with a few strains of grass. Hayleta tied the bundle to her belt, stopping to whip the sweat off her brow and summon a brown leather waterskin. 

She quenched her thirst in the shade of a tall jungle tree, still with no sight of the cave Dravora spoke told her to find. She stayed in the cooling shade of the tree for another few minutes before making her way out deeper into the jungle. Traversing the thick floral terrain was nothing but a chore. She was still riding the high of besting two casters in the same day, so searching the hot buggy jungle alone felt almost like a punishment from her matron goddess. But, Hayleta knew that if Dravora sent her here to find something, it was probably something important. 

It didn’t make the journey any more pleasant. Hayleta was moving as fast as she possibly could. She didn’t want to raise suspicion among her warriors and knowing their pace, they wouldn’t take long before those ballista were theirs. Finally, after climbing a long hill, Hayleta spotted a cluster of tall brown rocks in the distance by some more cliffs. Hayleta was tired of this trip, so she full on sprinted towards them, hoping with all hope that she found the cave. She watched her footing carefully as to not trip on the roots and plants strewn across the jungle floor. It was a matter of seconds before she reached the rocks, looking around for any hint of the cave. She looked around every rock and in every crevasse, sticking her eye up to even the slightest opening.

“Aaaggghhhhhhh,” Hayleta yelled out in exasperation, slumping up against a rock she had just been standing on to peer inside a small crack in the cliff face. She had never felt so disappointed in the lack of caves in her entire life. In frustration, she punched the cliff face that she had just been peeing into. The noise sounded hollow and it echoed out much farther than it should have.

 

“What the..?” She concentrated her efforts and thrust her staff at the stone wall, blowing a hole straight through the rock, sending shards of stone in all directions. Hayleta stepped forward into the dark, brushing the dust off of her dark armor, summoning an orb of light in front of her and starting into the cavern. 

From what Hayleta could tell, she was definitely not the first person to step foot in here. There were carvings all over the walls and several bones littered the ground. It was narrow and slightly hard to breathe, but she crouched and crawled her way through until she came across a small waterfall surrounded by flowered vines. 

Hayleta pushed the waterfall aside with a small flick of magic ready to complete Dravora’s task, beyond the water a small wooden chest stood untouched for hundreds of years. She lifted the lid of the chest revealing a brilliant bright blue and red carved stone on a chain of woven green vines.


	11. Out of the Frying Pan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thaedres is back!

Thaedres

14th of Delroth

Out of the Frying pan

 

Thaedre’s sword sunk into deep into the undead’s grey, rotting chest. He ripped it out, spun round, and slashed it across another’s neck, beheading it in an instant. He whipped his head around in all directions, looking for more of the animated corpses. He saw Kelvin bury his own sword in the skull of the last downed zombie before pulling it out and wiping the shiny steel blade clean of black blood. 

A larger undead stepped into reach of Thaedres, wielding a massive spike-headed mace and adorned in rusted iron armor. It swung its mace round and then aimed down at Thaedres’s head. He made a small half step to the side and in to dodge the blow, then buried his blade deep in its chest. Thaedres ripped his sword out then spun around, kicking the undead in the chest, sending it flying to the wall behind them.

 

“That’s the last of ‘em,” The Galavadren said, sheathing his sword on his hip and reaching for his water skin.

 

“You mean the last of them for the, what, twelfth time?” Thaedres said back, sheathing his own weapon. The enchanted green sword did not need cleaning, no matter how much blood he splattered across its gold-trimmed blade. He couldn’t wait to show off his skill with the sword to his father, wanting to know if he was living up to the legacy of the weapon.

 

“And still we are not through this place. I truly am sorry, Thaedres. If I had known it was going to take us more than a week, I would not have requested for your company.” Kelvin patted Thaedres on the shoulder after walking over to him and offering a pear.

 

“Bah, think nothing of it. All the more time to get used to my father's sword,” Thaedres said, snatching the pear and sinking his teeth into the sweet fruit.

 

“It really is a beautiful weapon. Who made it?” They continued walking down the wide-mouthed cavern, Kelvin holding a newly-lit torch.

 

“Dunno - my father gave it to me just as we were being attacked. I didn’t get a chance to ask. Probably Ferin Galodagaren. He has been the master smith at Fort Greenwood for hundreds of years, but I have never seen anything else like this from him.” He patted his hip, where his sword in its black leather sheath hung at his side. The young elf clapped his hands together and them and turned them around, stretching out his arms up over his head. Thaedres took his own water skin from his belt and took a large swig. “How much further you suppose it is, Kelvin?”

 

“Dunno. Can’t be far now, though, can it? Been down here god damn a week and a day we have.” Kelvin set off down toward the wide, rounded mouth of the cave, pushing aside thick clumps of hanging green moss. 

 

“Aye. If i'm being real with you, I may not have agreed to accompany you all this way had I known in the first place, even if I don’t mind being here, now.” Thaedres followed behind, leaving a few sword-lengths between them.

 

“I don’t blame ya. I may not have taken the contract had I known this cave was so fucking deep.”

 

“What are you even here for, again?” Thaedres’ tone hinted at annoyance, but that was mainly due to all of the hanging moss he had to push aside.

 

“Supposedly, there is an undead necromancer in the heart of this place with a power gem in the middle of his necklace. My contractor wants that gem.”

 

“An undead necromancer? Isn’t that an oxymoron?” 

 

“Hey, what do you want from me? The guy is offering me forty thousand gold for the thing and he said it wouldn’t take much time at all.” The mouth of tunnel opened up as they came into an enormous dark chamber, small drops of water echoing across the cave, filling the two of them with a growing sense of unease.

 

“Well, this seems inviting.” Kelvin chuckled for a moment at Thaedres’s joke before pulling a chunk of flint from his pack and striking it against his torch.

 

“Aye, but the less we feel like continuing, the closer we must be getting.” He pulled his pipe from his belt and loaded it with a pinch of a green leafy powder, held it up to the torch and inhaled while continuing further into the cave. 

 

“What is that stuff?” Thaedres asked, following closely behind and gripping the hilt of his sword as he walked. “It’s not Vav-weed, is it?” 

 

“Vav-weed? What the fuck is vav-weed? Nah, this stuff is Gurtha root. It grows all over Galavadra.”

 

“Vavorathin or vav-weed is what the soldiers in Greenwood smoke. What does Gurtha root feel like?” Thaedres’s voice gleaned with curiosity. Thaedren hadn’t yet allowed his son to try vav-weed but he had dying to try it ever since captain Anaklees had described his own first time trying the plant.

 

“Do you wanna try a little?” Kelvin stopped and turned to face Thaedres, handing him his small brown wooden pipe. Thaedres took it without a second thought. “Do you need my flint?” He offered up the small silvery rock.

 

“No thanks. I know some magic.” Thaedres snapped and sparked a small flame on his index finger, holding it up to the green root in the pipe and slowly beginning to inhale. A cool breeze rushed down his throat and into torso. The cooling sensation spread across every inch of his skin and after a beat, the sensation turned to warmth that flowed back up his body and into his head, where it peaked behind his eyes.

 

“Wow, that was… unexpected.” Thaedres only looked forward, still taken aback at what that had just felt like.

“Hah, it's not done, yet. In a minute or two, you’re gonna start feeling a relaxing tingle across your major muscles. It feels incredible and by the time you need to strain them again, they will feel completely refreshed.” Kelvin took the pipe from his hands and drew another long breath of smoke, exhaling it into a series of o’s.

 

“How common is it back in Galavadra?” Thaedres asked, now taking the lead. The cave’s path came to a semi-steep downward slope. 

 

“Oh, it's everywhere. Really helps our smiths pump out tons of metalwork. And, best of all, Arons love it. The whole family loves it.” Kelvin held his torch over the slope, illuminating what laid below. A few small rocks littered the bottom, but, other than that, they had a clear landing.

 

“Do they smoke it or eat it?”

 

“They eat it.” He laughed for a moment after speaking, “We don’t have _that_ much. What do we do about this now?” He pointed the torch downwards at the bottom of the long slope.

 

“I’m not sure, looks safe enough down there. But, once we are down, I doubt there’s any coming back up.” He nudged a small rock with his foot sending, it tumbling down the rocky slope. The orange glow of Kelvin’s torch only illuminated the immediate landing at the bottom, leaving the rest of the cavern still shrouded in darkness. Kelvin took another long draw of his pipe before exhaling loudly.

 

“What do you suppose is down there?” the Galavadren asked after another inhale, smoke escaping with his words. “Besides some more fucking undead.”

 

“Hopefully something new.” Thaedres jumped onto the sloping stone, digging his heels into the ground as he slid. He held his hips steady and centered so as to not lose his balance, small stones shooting up behind his feet as he descended. Behind him, Kelvin yelled out as he leapt down, copying Thaedres. The two of the reached the bottom unscathed. Looking up the slope from the bottom gave sight of it’s true size, and it was clear now that the slope was a one-way path.

 

“You alright?” Thaedres raised the torch up to give light to the dark basin of the massive, echoing chamber. 

 

“Yeah, yeah. God dammit, you are one crazy elf, you know that? Could we not have gone down it any safer way?” Kelvin questioned, taking a few deep breaths after speaking.

 

“Aye, I suppose I could have thought of a way, but why, Kelvin? We are safely at the bottom and it did not take us but a minute.” Thaedres kept his tone light as to not offend the Galavadren.

 

“Well, I suppose I can't argue with that, but remember I am nowhere near as nimble as you.” Kelvin huffed back, lighting up his pipe yet again and looking around at the surrounding cavern. The light radiating from Thaedre’s torch stretched out far into the once-dark; nothing was there except for a few more rocks spread about.

 

“Dunno why, but I expected to find something down here.” Thaedres said with a small huff, moving the torch back and forth, hoping to spot something they hadn’t seen. 

 

“What, this big empty room not exciting enough for ya?” Kelvin took a long draw from his pipe and then exhaled a thick white billowy cloud into the air. Thaedres followed it with the torch, distracted by its constant shifting size and shape. In a heartbeat, the torch was extinguished by a rush of dark black-and-purple smoke coming from the far end of the cavern. 

Thaedres drew his sword in a flash and a half a second later Kelvin drew his. They stood back to back, holding their swords out, ready for whatever. Time seemed to stand still as they slowly rotated, waiting for an attack. 

A loud long rattle sounded out from the high walls of the chamber and echoed all around in a cacophony of high pitched shaking and rattling. The sound slowly died out as blue light flickered to life around the top, where the sound had originated from. Slowly, the shapes of iron torches formed from an eerie gray mist. As the torches formed a ring of gray light around the ceiling, the rattling started back up, accompanied by thunderous cheering. Stadium stands and walls then formed from the same gray mist, filling up with hundreds of ghostly human forms. The cavern had become a massive ghostly arena, lit up by the dull gray light, now amplified a thousand times.

 

“Well, now, what do you make of this, elf?” Kelvin’s tone was surprisingly calm for their situation.  The pipe had fallen out of his mouth and shattered on the stone floor below, but he hadn’t seemed to noticed.

 

“I’ve no idea, Kelvin. All I can say for sure is that we’re about to see what these undead really have to offer.” Moments after he finished speaking, a voice rang out from where the coliseum formed into an observer's box.

 

“Young combatants, you step foot in the ancient ground of Lord Falavagoth’s fighting pit. Whether willing or not, you fight here to the death.” The cheering roared out loud as the regal high-pitched voice ceased his announcement.

 

“Who the fuck? If that’s how lord Fala-whatever ran his kingdom, no wonder his old ass is dead.” Thaedres amped up his voice with a bit of magic to match the volume of the faceless voice. The cheering turned to a mix of deep boos and high hisses. 

  
  


Kelvin lightly elbowed Thaedres and whispered, “Don’t aggravate them, it’s only gonna get us killed faster.” 

 

“Killed? Hah, it’s gonna take alot more than some misty dead bitches to take me down. I’m the best the Thuusains have seen in a thousand years.” His voice now roared over their jeers, silencing the crowd. They remained silent until the same regal voice called out again.  

 

“Ah, we have one of the legendary Thuusains in our arena tonight - a fine trophy to be added to our soul horde. Send in the first wave,” The disembodied voice spat the last few words out with fire and malice in his voice. Below, where the ghostly sound had called from, a loud clattering chain started to ring out, a gray-misted iron gate slowly lifting from the ground. 

Shuffling out of the misty darkness came six more armored undead wielding broadswords. Thaedres took the initiative and charged forward, drawing his long green-and-golden blade. The lead undead broke from his shamble and charged, sword flailing out in front of him. Thaedres took a step inside the zombie’s guard, swatting away his broadsword and thrusting his own sword through the undead’s forehead. 

The Thuusain pulled his sword back in front of him as the other zombies quickly swarmed him, forming a small circle. Their loud growling forced a growing sense of unease as they began to shuffle forward. Thaedres’s eyes narrowed as he fought against his growing panic to think of a way out. Trickles of sweat rolled from his golden hairline down to his eyes, as he thought hard and fast, the drooling undead shambling closer and closer. 

From of the corner of his eye, Kelvin leapt in, breaking through their line, cutting down two of the armored ghouls with two deadly cuts of his iron short sword. Thaedres took the moment of undead exasperation to lunge at the opposite edge of the circle, striking one of their chests through their shotty iron armor, clear through, with one fell strike. They cleaned up the last two zombies with a series of swift swings.

 

“Nice of you to help out,” Thaedres said, smirking and pulling a cloth from his belt to wipe the black blood from his sword.

 

“Hah, someone’s a bit salty that they got saved by a Galavadren.” Kelvin smirked back at him, similarly cleaning his blade with an overused cloth. They took a few steps closer together, both holding their swords at their sides. Kelvin pulled another pipe from a hidden pocket in his boot, packing it with more Gurda root, and lighting it with his same piece of flint. Thaedres took the pipe from him and drew in his own large breath of cooling smoke as the Ghostly voice rang out again.

 

“Hah! You fools think you’ve won - the hardy insolence of the living.” His laughter boomed across the arena while the chains started to rattle again. Gray mist poured from behind the gate as it rose into the rafters. Two undead came marching out of the misty entrance, holding themselves higher and walking with more confidence. They both bore lighter leather armor with polished metal bands across the arms and waist, and each of them held their weapons with ease. The one on the right bore twin jagged shorts swords and spun them around in a slow but impressive showing of dexterity. The taller undead on the left tossed the head of his large axe up and down in his gloved hand while spinning it about. 

 

“Which one?” Thaedres asked, looking at their two opponents, then pointing with Kelvin’s pipe.

 

“I suppose, uh, the one with the axe?” Kelvin answered, snatching his pipe back and putting it in his belt pouch. 

Thaedres took no time to dally. He drew his gold and green bastard sword and charged down the swordsman; the undead charged back in response. Thaedres anticipated the swordsman's first three slashes at his chest and responded with three parries in kind. The undead snarled at him, rearing back with both arms and bringing down both of his jagged swords with deadly force. Theadres swung his sword arm up horizontally over his head, catching the blow midway through its arc. His abominable opponent leaned in, spitting and growling as he pushed all of his might into his swords. 

Thaedres pulled his sword away in a flash, causing the undead to stumble and fall forward, leaving him open to be stabbed with his dazzling green blade, in and out of the zombie with unseeable speed. The booming voice of the announcer roared with fury as the ghostly crowd started to boo and hiss again at Thaedres. He turned to see Kelvin struggling in his fight with the larger hammer-wielding undead. The Galavadren dove to the side and stumbled on his roll, avoiding a massive overhead swing. The black head of the undead’s hammer left a small crater in the gray stone below. 

Thaedres darted towards the struggle. Kelvin narrowly avoided another heavy slam from the hulking undead while Thaedres was still thirty feet away. Finally, he was in range to grab the warriors attention. He achieved this by scooping up a small stone off the cave floor and hurling it at the thing’s helmet. Kelvin used this opportunity to throw his sword into the exposed calf of the undead, which roared out in pain, wheeling around to strike Kelvin with its hammer. The nimble elf then lunged forward, quickly sinking his sword deep into the beast’s chest before ripping it out and slicing wildly across its neck. 

Thaedres pulled his sword back and summoned a small cloth to wipe the black blood off of his ornate blade, putting his arm out for Kelvin to lift himself up with.

 

“Who knew the undead could be so strong?” Kelvin mused as he pulled himself to his feet, pulling out his pipe yet again. 

 

“Ah, I think he had some supernatural help from this place.” Thaedres replied, still holding his great green sword, waiting for the next bout. The announcer's voice roared and cried out in unintelligible anger and sorrow, and Thaedres and Kelvin stood and looked at each other with a mixture of shock and embarrassment.

 

“Uhm, this is uncomfortable,” Kelvin said, lighting his pipe. “And where the hell is this necromancer?”

 

“Yeah, I don’t know what to make of this,” Thaedres said while gesturing towards where the sounds were coming from. As he gestured, the ghostly gray mist surrounding the arena slowly began to dissolve. The figures in the crowd gradually vanished and the sound of rattling bones died out, leaving the moaning and wailing as the only sound in the now-empty cavern. All that remained was a robed figure, curled over where the announcer's box had been - the source of the wailing.

 

“Is... is that our necromancer?” Thaedres asked as the two of them walked, over sheathing their weapons, both of them clearly feeling the lack of tension. When they got near enough to see, the gem Kelvin had described was sitting in a silver chain necklace, glowing with a pale blue light.

 

“Yeah, I think it is. Not quite what I made him up to be, is he?” Kelvin reached down and ripped the necklace from the still-wailing body on the cave floor. He held the gem up close to his face to inspect, before suddenly gasping and nearly dropping the chain. 

A bone-and-sinew hand grabbed his ankle hard, the horrid undead maw of the creature on the floor screaming up as he stared into Kelvin’s terrified face. Thaedres stomped down hard on its head, cratering its skull and sending gray rotted chunks of brain flying in all directions.

 

“Fuck! Gods-dammit, that scared me nearly half to death,” Kelvin said, clutching at his heart. Thaedres laughed heartily in response, clapping Kelvin on the back.

 

“Hah, you’re alright, Kel. Why do you think he freaked out so much? And were those zombies even real or did he just conjure them?” Thaedres reached his hand out, silently asking for the pipe.

 

“Gah, who cares. We got the gem.” Kelvin handed the freshly-loaded pipe over, and he took it and lit it, taking a long deep inhale of the cooling smoke. “I just hope we find our way out of this fucking place anytime soon.” Kelvin took the pipe back and took his own long pull of the Gurda root. 

 

“Well, I know you can’t see it, but there is actually an exit a few hundred yards away. I can see a dim light coming from it.” Thaedres took the pipe again and finished what was left in the pipe.

 

“Goddamned elves.” He laughed and pulled a small burlap sack from his belt, pulling more dried green plant matter from it and filling the pipe. 

 

“How do you humans deal with such dull senses?” Thaedres laughed back heartily, nudging Kelvin in the side with his palm.

 

“Hey, c’mon. They’re not dull, they just aren’t fucking freakish like yours.” The two of them burst out into more laughter as they reached the end of the massive cavern.  They walked on, laughing and smoking, talking about their fight. The pair continued along the dimly light path up and out the cave for more than half a day, eating what little rations they had left. The mouth of the cave was opening slowly and the smell of jungle and sea air was creeping up on them.

 

“We gotta be close now,” Kelvin said, walking ahead, “I can smell the brine of the sea.”

 

“Hah, I’ve been smelling it,” Thaedres said after a long upper body stretch, his perfectly forged green plate armor moving seamlessly with him.

 

“Shut the fuck up and help me,” Kelvin replied,  reaching the top of the small incline and shifting a large pile of rocks. “Something unnatural toppled these. I can see sunbeams through the stones.”

 

“Hmm. That shitty necromancer was probably trying to trap us in when he thought we were just a couple of nobody knights.” Thaedres started digging away at the pile of stones.

 

“Yeah, well, without you, I woulda been one of those nobodies. I haven’t really thanked you for helping me out back there, yet, have I?” Kelvin stopped working for a moment and looked to his companion.

 

“Shut the fuck up and dig. And you’re welcome. I’m pretty glad I was here to help you out - I’m always up for a good fight, but good fights are hard to come by with Captain Anaklees around.” Thaedres tore at the rocks, eager to get some fresh air.

 

“Who is Captain Anaklees?” Kelvin returned to his own digging, but the Galavadren couldn’t keep up with the young elf.

 

“He’s the Captain of the Thuusains, and best fighter we ever had till I came along, they say. I don't really see it because I can’t fucking beat him.” Thaedres couldn’t help but show his frustration as he spoke, his anger seeping into his actions as he pushed away rocks.

 

“So then why do they say you’re better, Thaedres?” 

 

“Man, I don’t know! They say it’s because I’m still young and I haven’t finished aging or maturing, but how the fuck do they know I’ll be better?” A cooling wave of calm washed over him after he unleashed his anger onto a nearby rock, cracking it with the bottom of his gauntlet.

 

“Am I sensing some pressure you’re feeling from it?” Kelvin said with a smirk, voice taut with sarcasm. Thaedres laughed wholeheartedly, forgetting his frustration.

 

“Aye, that you are. I guess you are not all that used to pressure anymore.” Thaedres was finally clearing larger sections of the rock slide, light started to pour into cave in small golden beams.

 

“No, not much anymore. Back in Galavadra, I knew my fair share of it.” 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

“Yeah. When Akiva took over the country, the military was put through hell. She made us torture and kill our own men if they were not compliant, and if we didn’t, we would get the same.” Thaedres whistled loudly in response,

 

“Gods damn, that is pressure.” Thaedres redoubled his effort; the smell of fresh air was so tantalizing and close he couldn’t stand it any longer. Kelvin caught on to his enthusiasm and the two of them finally cleared up a hole big enough to crawl through.

 

“Ahh, that breeze feels nice. I’m saying it again, cave air is awful. Stale and musty, not mention the myriad of other horrible smells.” Kelvin stuck his head through the hole as he spoke, crawling his way out.

 

“Well, hurry the fuck up. I need to get out of this stale musty shit, too.” Thaedres’s skin was nearly crawling out of readiness to leave the cave they had been in for so long. Kelvin made his way out as Thaedres eagerly pulled himself through the hole, but the hilt of his sword got caught on a stone. The green bastard sword fell back inside the cave as Thaedres stepped out into the fresh air.

 

“Fuck.”

 

“What?” Kelvin replied after a long back stretch, turning to look at the young elf.

 

“Dropped my sword,” Theadres said, leaning his face against the rock wall to get his arm in as far as it would go. He struggled for a second before getting a good hold of it then pulling it free from the rocks. He spun around, ready to hear another sly comment from the Galavadren.

 

“Grab him!” A large blonde-haired woman stood tall and beautiful in black, red, and gold plate. She held Kelvin pinned against the ground, disarmed and half unconscious. Around her stood five heavily armored Galavadren knights. Thaedres held his sword out and spun his head around in rapid accurate succession, seeing all the now-visible red-and-black armored warriors and archers that surrounded him. 

He jumped forward, zig zagging up to woman who had Kelvin pinned, rearing back his sword, ready to kill, when something struck him on the back of his skull. Thaedres fell to the ground, unconscious.          


	12. A Spark of Genius

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Akiva! I wonder what everyone thinks of her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you all so much <3  
> if anyone has any questions ask them!  
> I'd love to talk you all

Akiva

16th of Delroth

A Spark of Genius 

  
  


Akiva’s boots sank annoyingly into the the muddy jungle floor, forcing her to exert a small amount of energy with each step and slowing down her troops’ pace, to Akiva’s discontent. Her voice couldn't take any more shouting and her legs couldn’t take any more fast movement through this thickly-conopied path. 

“Well, I guess this is why you don’t go back the way you came in a jungle,” Akiva spoke aloud to her surrounding warriors, who looked nervously to each other and then looked back ahead. 

 

“You were just more focused on the capture is all, Countess,” one of the men carrying the tied up elf captive said while keeping his eyes forward. Akiva did not expect this from one of her men; it cuaght her off guard and she took a few moments to think. The sound of jungle wildlife filled her mind and filled the air as they trudged along.

“I guess you’re right, I was focused on our mission, and,” Akiva took the pole of her halberd and smacked the tightly bound captive in the chest, “We snagged these two without a hitch. Beside our little elf here, we found a deserter.” Akiva’s last last few words were spoken a goating tone, causing a murmur of building excitement and jeering across her men. They had the Young Elf’s back tied to thick wooden pole, and his body wrapped ankle to neck in densely woven rope. Kelvin, the deserter scum, just had his hands tied. He was being dragged and yanked through the mud and foliage, stumbling on every other step and tripping over his footing like a drunk jester. 

“Oi, let’s hear it for the Grand Countess,” Another one of her soldiers shouted to an even louder growing cheer. Akiva felt an unbelievable surge of confidence and self-righteousness. 

“She knew what Galavadra could do, and she had the fucking gall to get it done!” The same man shouted to a now-roaring crowd of men, all with newfound spirit in their movement. Akiva couldn’t help but feel confused for a moment - she had just been shouting and jeering at her men and now they were praising her like an exalted knight returning from conquest. 

“I do deserve it,” she thought to herself, but had they actually come around to her side like this? She decided to keep her skepticism about the matter, not ever really wanting to let her guard down. Her men continued to abuse and jeer at Kelvin while dragging him along, but, obeying her previous order, none of them touched the elf. 

He was for Akiva. 

She had learned about “the Young Elf” four years ago when a scout came back from northern Opiath with brutal wounds. He spoke of a man in green armor who blitzed through an entire battalion of Galavadren soldiers with only a mounted archer supporting him. Akiva knew that men often liked to exaggerate their stories of battle, but something about the way the wounded man spoke made Akiva certain he was telling the truth. 

 

Her thirty-odd men trudged on with haste through the jungle for hours, but as the sun was starting to set, they reached the open space just before the jungle turned into beach. They all relaxed their pace as they walked towards their large metal ship docked on the west side of the brown sandy beach.

 

“Boys, I’ve decided that a capture like this has earned us a feast. A grand fat pig of a feast. Bushi,” the man came running up to her side, “I want you to run ahead to the ship and tell the chef to get cooking. We’re hungry.” 

Bushi ran off as the men started chanting and roaring and their harassment of Kelvin got worse for a few moments as their excitement peaked. Akiva’s stomach growled at the mention of food, subconsciously speeding up her footsteps towards the black billowing smoke of her ship. It took them about another half hour of lofty beach walking before they were close enough to smell the roasting garlic and multiple chickens on the rotisserie.

 

“Alright, men, you’re dismissed. I'll see you all in the mess hall.” Her men snapped their arms to their sides and stood straight before pounding their hands against their chests twice in quick succession. They then ran off into the hull of the massive black iron ship, cleary enticed by the smells of cooking food. Akiva nearly smiled, and she couldn’t really blame herself for it either. Her men had, for once, done their jobs well and they deserved a good meal for it. 

The Countess made her own way into the ship, tired and ready for food. Her red-and-black metal boots banged loudly on the iron walkways of the Galavadren battleship, brightly lit by torches and iron bar windows above the sea level. Akiva made her way into the far end of the ship where the staircase to her cabin lied. She climbed the stairs and made her was to the patterned door, opening it and closed the door behind her as she stepped inside. 

Akiva took a long few moments to stretch out before removing her intricate set of armor, and in this moment, Akiva wanted nothing more than to see Jayla. To have her walk in and help Akiva with her armor and then massage her sore legs. Akiva never thought she would meet someone who would have such a hold over her, but more than their physical connection, Akiva loved being with Jayla. She loved talking to her and laughing with her - for the first time in Akiva’s twenty-six years of life, she could imagine a life of peace on the iron coast. A life with Jayla.

 

Akiva finished disrobing and laid flat on her neatly laid out bed spread, enjoying the soft silky fabric on her naked back. She knew she could drift off if she wanted to, but reheated food was never quite the same as the freshness of a feast. Akiva stood up after a long yawn and another stretch out of her limbs and began to put on her more casual attire. 

Afterwards, she made her way out onto the deck, passing by dozens of saluting sailors and warriors, then down into the galley. The smell of the freshly-prepared food assaulted her senses and nearly left Akiva feeling weak.

 

“Hail Akiva!” Her men shouted in unison as she rounded the corner into the mess hall. Wooden tables stretch out far in rows of two, covering the floor of the large room. Akiva made her way past the tables to where the smell was emanating from, receiving dozens of salutes and individual greetings. She mostly ignored them, just smiling and nodding every few feet or so as she took her long-legged steps through the mess hall. 

As always, her table was set up for her: a jug of mead on a small block of wood and an iron tap. A chilled and polished wood-and-iron banded mug sat in front of her slightly finer dining wear. Akiva was a fan of asserting her position, especially around meal times but transportation around fine crystal goblets and silver eatery was more than a hassle for a military vessel. 

 

“Greetings, your Grace. Shall I pour you a pint?” Her latest assistant spoke firm and friendly to Akiva as she approached her cushioned red seat.

 

“You shall, and I would like to know what the chef has prepared tonight,” Akiva said. having to fight back the watering sensation in her mouth. The smell of garlic and slow-cooked meat permeated the air. She sat down and the chilled mug was handed to her. She took a large swig and then wiped the foam from her mouth. Akiva was taken aback for a second at the taste - so sweet and spicy, but with savory and salty hints as the taste washed over tounge. Her face clearly revealed her love of the beverage, causing her men to break out into laughter.

 

  “Hah. Good, isn’t it, Countess?” They all laughed again as Akiva took another large swig of the delicious amber brew. It filled her with a radiating warmth that started from her stomach and swelled to all parts of her.

 

“Aye, that it is. Did we loot it recently? I don’t remember ever having mead so delicious.” Akiva drained her mug after speaking and then belched loudly before patting her chest twice with her closed fist. This, for some reason, caused her men to roar and cheer loudly and then they all drained and guzzled at their drinks like apes.

 

“Actually m’lady,” the chef said as she walked out of the kitchen, her thick worker’s accent enchanting Akiva and giving her the aura of a grand master of her craft, “it’s my own concoction. I sent out some of my cooks to collect some quellio root when we arrived last night. I’m glad to know you like it.” The tall and muscular tattooed woman smiled warmly, two cooks behind her holding two platters of food. 

The pair walked their large silver trays full of streamy food and intoxicating smells and warmth over to her table and placed them in front of her. Akiva filled her mug from the metal tap next to her as the chef started to explain her dishes.

 

“Right, so. Tonight, we have mutton with a sauce I made from the Quellio root, some smashed and fried potatoes with garlic and aged cheese, and, for y’all’s health, I made roast vegetables.” The chef talked with confidence and jested back at the men’s jokes and jeers. Akiva liked this woman and was more than excited to taste her food. 

Not mentioned by the chef was the bread rolls and butter next to a charcuterie of smoked meats, cheeses, pickled vegetables, and toasted crackers. Akiva drained another half mug of mead in preparation for this feast she was about to destroy; realizing she had already had nearly three liters of the stuff before taking a single bite. Based on the rowdy nature of her men, she suspected they had dipped into the amber nectar a great deal more than usual as well. 

As Akiva took the leg of mutton in one hand and drizzled a hearty helping of white sauce onto the slow-cooked meat, she thought about the root that made this drink so good. Her assistant was standing nearby at a table with a small cup of drink in his hand, waiting for another command.

 

“Chef,” Akiva shouted out, calling the large woman back into the room.

 

“Yes, Countess?” The woman came out of the kitchen again, holding a large wooden spoon.

 

“Please, call me Akiva. How hard was it to collect this,” Akiva paused before saying the name, lifting her mug, “Quellio root?”

 

“Well, Akiva, it’s not really hard at all to collect. And you don’t really need much of it, either - the stuff goes a long way.” 

 

“Good, good. And what is your name, Chef?” Akiva asked, tearing off a chunk of sauce covered mutton with her teeth and drowning it in mead.

 

“I’m Chef Engvala, Fayrn Engvala. Been a chef in back in Ironwood for a good fourteen years. Learned a thing or two, I guess,” she said, admiring the warrior’s enthusiasm for her food. Akiva laughed for a moment. 

 

“I suppose you did,” she roared, mouth half full of food. “Chef Engvala, I need something from you. After we make our way back home from Idgyos, I’d like you to make plans for a full scale brewery for this mead. I will provide supplies and a small fleet of workers and ships to harvest this Quellio root for you, full barrels of it.” Akiva drained her mug once more.

 

“Uhm, Akiva, I don’t know much about structure or buildings in general. I-

 

“Oh, please, do not fret. I will supply builders and a foreman, all we need from you is your recipe and to overlook each step in the process of creating this wonderful brew. Is that acceptable?” Akiva spoke as she filled up her mug yet again, but now just sipping at it.

 

“Of course, your Grace.” Chef Engvala bowed her head and walked back in the kitchen, blushing, clearly lost for words. Akiva then concentrated on the food before her, tearing away at all of it, but getting particular enjoyment from the potatoes. Her soldiers ate away at their own platters of food with great vigor and enthusiasm, drinking all of the mead that the chef had made. They all ate for another hour or so, Akiva occasionally joining in on her men’s jokes and juants. Afterwards they slowly cycled their way out of the mess hall and onto their nightly duties. Akiva stayed in the mess hall for a while longer, picking away at the scraps of her feast. 

 

The ship set sail after another half hour of her men working on the ship. They had to take the long way around the straits so they could sneak up on the elf. So the journey back through the rocky cliffs and narrows causeways was going to take them a long time, and Akiva, knowing this fact, decided this would be a proper time to catch up on some power sleeping.

First, however, she wanted to say goodnight to the chef before retiring for the evening. She walked past the black sheet covering the entrance to the kitchen. Several workers greeted her while scrubbing away at the pots, pans and various eating ware. She made her way to the back where the Chef was doing an account of all the food they had still in the stores.

 

“Faryn! I wanted to wish you a good evening - that food was divine. I’m going to sleep better than an Aggron tonight.” Akiva stuck out her muscled forearm, and the head chef grasped it with her own large arm as they shook them up and down once. 

 

“I’m glad you liked it, Akiva. If you ever have any requests for the meal - or should I say any more requests? Well, let us know.” They both laughed for a minute.

 

“Well, I’m off for the night, and I do have a request. I want any barrels of the mead you have left set aside for me. The men can have more after we start mass producing it.” Akiva turned to leave before the chef could say anything back. The Countess walked briskly through the hall and out onto the deck of her metal ship. Her men worked with a solemn, food-filled pace, waving or greeting her as she passed. She made her way into her cabin and closed the door behind her, disrobing and collapsing onto the bed as ready to sleep as one could be.

 

Akiva woke up to sound of sea birds and waves crashing up against the side of her ship. Slowly opening her eyes and yawning, she reached out to touch Jayla, forgetting that she was alone in bed. Akiva got up and dressed herself, slightly disheartened, her hair still messy from her slumber. 

Akiva’s men outside, almost on cue, broke into a sea shanty outside on the deck. Little did they know it was no time for a song. She took the door handle and threw it open. 

 

“No. Shanties!” The large warrior roared out of her cabin at the men, and they all stopped at once and turned their heads to their work. Akiva decided that her bad mood was perfect for questioning Kelvin the deserter. If he decided to be difficult at all, she would have no trouble beating it out of him. Akiva went back into the room to grab her flexible iron band that she tied her hair with, put her hair up and back and made her way down to the brig.

Stomping each step solidified her bad mood for those around; the progress of work on the ship suddenly picked up in pace. She flew across the deck and down the stairs past the first two floors and into the basement of the ship. It was cold and damp and the air was hot from all the steam blasting through the air vents along the ceiling. The basement was segmented by cells in two massive open rooms. Thaedres, the Young Elf, and Kelvin, the common traitor, were locked in a cell in each of the rooms. Akiva knew they were secure, but she still kept the two as far away as she could - the contact would help them stay sane. Akiva was going to break that sanity like a small twig.

 

She walked her way past the empty cells to where Kelvin the deserter was caged and bound.   


“You pathetic shit,” she spat at the ground inside his small dark cage. The man was shocked awake and coughed for a few seconds, gagging on the cloth stuff in his mouth, “Why did you do it? Huh?” Akiva kicked the bars hard with the bottom of her shoes, careful not to overexert without her normal heavy boots. Kelvin screamed in her direction, biting at his cloth gag. He stood up and tried to walk at the bars, but fell over onto the hard metal.

 

“Look at you, you used to be one of us. One of our best Wayward Knights, you were renowned all across the military for your swordplay and creativity on the battlefield. You sicken me. Why would you ever leave our great nation? Why?” She shouted at the top of her lungs as she finished, bashing her fists against the bar. The sound rang out all throughout the dank basement. The man lay there, unmoving and unseeing underneath his blindfold. Akiva’s rage was still slowly subsiding and if Kelvin had made any semblance of a noise she might just have to beat him.

 

“You’re not even worth my time,” Akiva said as she walked away, through the door and into the other massive room. Thaedres the Young Elf’s cage lay on the far end of this room. Saving her strength for him was the smart thing to do. She couldn’t do any real damage to either of them, but the Dregvosh warden did say they accepted slightly “used” merchandise. Akiva passed empty cells populated only by rats and bits of bones, intent on her way to the Young Elf’s cage.

 

“Oi, elf.” She opened and then slammed the door of the cage hard, jolting the Young Elf awake. She opened the cage again and stepped inside before speaking again. “You escaped my grasp once, yet here you are again.” 

The elf was bound and tied exactly like Kelvin, with a blindfold over his eyes and a thick cloth stuffed in his mouth. But Thaedres remained calm, sitting cross-legged in the center of his cage, leaning against the pole he was tied to. Akiva was taken aback - he was in a horrible environment and had no chance of escaping, yet he stayed as still as a flower on a windless day. Akiva walked up to him and grabbed him by the chin softly and aimed his eyes straight at hers. She knew she was going to hurt the elf, but his demeanor caught her off guard and she needed to study her enemy.

 

“My men talk. They like to talk, seems to be their favorite thing, besides fighting poorly and guzzling up all my drink.” Akiva didn’t know why she was being so truthful. Maybe it was because no one was around, maybe it was because she was still considering killing the elf rather than selling him to the Idygosian prison. 

“They like to talk about fights and who would win them. Often times, your name comes up, and usually when it does, they say you would win. The way they talk about you is like the way they used to talk about me, that you would never lose. That it would take more men to take you out than would ever be worth it, that when you got to the point of training others, the Thuusains would become unstoppable.” Akiva reared back her hand and struck his cheek with the back of her raised hand. The force knocked him to the floor, destroying his cross-legged sitting position. 

“What will they say now, elf? What will they say while you rot away in prison, desperate for water and too sore to move? It’s a pretty brutal prison, I hear.” Thaedres started to get back up into a sitting position. Akiva stepped forward and punched him square in solar plexus, knocking the Young Elf back to the floor. Akiva shook her hand and bounced back and forth onto her feet. 

“I’m almost glad you escaped our clutches the first time because it lead you here to me. And now I can teach you, teach you that you’re nothing special. Now you’ll never be great.” Akiva cracked her knuckles and again stepped forward at the elf hunched over on the dark iron floor.


	13. A Flowery Feast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ehjean and the boys get into some cooky troubles, who is this man with his gengar?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My story makes me really happy, i hope you're all enjoying reading it!

Ejhaen

16th of Delroth

A Flowery Feast

It was official. This was the worst job Ejhaen had ever taken. Between the weeks spent trudging through the snow and the constant cave exploring, Ejhaen was getting really damned annoyed with his current circumstances. The smell of the deep wet innards of this cave was disgusting, like rotting fish and sulfurs springs. Ejhaen walked in front, trailed closely by his Gengar, Stygi, and Tox the Zubat, flapping his blue and purple wings directly above. 

The two of them were starting to get annoyed as well. It was becoming more and more obvious with each passing day in the underground. The only thing that kept the three of them sane was their unending task of searching for that damned ice flower. They had found dozens of plants inside the cave, but none of them were the correct one. He knew the flower’s petals were made completely of ice and the flowers in the middle formed as golden hexagonal gems. The flower is also said to spew cold from its gems at all times, so Ejhaen was fairly confident that he would spot it.

“Oh, gods fucking damnit,” Ejhaen said as the three of them rounded a corner to spot a patch of flowers and mushrooms growing in a patch of frosty dirt. None of them being the one they needed, of course. “I’m not sure how much more of this I can take, guys. I mean this has to be the twentieth patch of plants we’ve come across and still no sign of this thing. Maybe we should give this up and go back to Celasolstia, find some more work that won’t take us quite so long.” 

Tox and Stygi both nodded and grunted in agreement with two drastically different voices. Ejhaen pulled out the heavily marked piece of paper from his bag of unending storage that he used to track their path through this natural labyrinth. 

“Let’s make our way back to that one spot we made camp at on the ridge,” Ejhaen pointed to the map showing it to both of his Pokemon companions. Neither of them looked or even showed any interest. “We can sleep one more night, or day, I guess, before we leave. Once we are out of this cave, I can easily take us to Celsolstia with a jump to the dock, maybe a few if I’m feeling lazy.” Ejhaen started to fold up his makeshift map and put it back into his bag when Tox perked up his ears and shot his head around. His right ear twitched a few times; Ejhaen and Stygi both shot their heads in the direction of Tox’s gaze. 

They both remained utterly silent. Tox could hear things from ten times the distance as even the most adept human. Tox started to fly slowly in the direction of the noise, and Ejhaen and Stygi followed closely behind, careful not to make any noise. The three of them crept along the narrow raised walkway at the top of the cavern they were in, having to avoid hanging icicles and stalactites. Finally, Ejhean started to hear the noise, too: footsteps and soft voices echoing from below. The three of them paused where they were to listen closely. Ejhaen quickly became frustrated with only hearing mumbles so he whipped up a quick charm to enhance the sound coming from below them. Their words quickly became fully audible. 

“How far down is he?” One of the voice asked with the slightest indication of irritation.

“Ah, he’s gotta be a ways by now. No way he can hear us from this far up. Nah, I’ll tell you when we gotta be silent again,” another one of them replied with a much more relaxed tone.

“What’s he doing here again? This place smells fucking rotten, it does,” a third heavily accented voice called out from slightly behind them. Ejhean got an instant image of where his assailants were based on their triangular layout and where their voices were coming from. 

“He’s here for a rare flower. He was contracted by a man back in Iavros to collect ingredients for an incredibly potent potion. The effects of it are almost as varied as the ingredients. When we interrogated the man about his reasons for making this potion, he wouldn’t talk. This guy was so stubborn he died before giving up the information - Gellots shocked the poor bastard for hours.” The three of them laughed for a moment; Ejhaen then decided that these were bad men. Laughing at a death from torture was an easy way to distinguish yourself as a shitty person. Ejhean and his two companions slowly shuffled along the ridge back the way they came as the voices moved along far below them. 

“So this guy is pretty dangerous, huh, Flots?” The heavily accented voice asked to one of the others.

“Well, we did pass by the wreckage of his fight with Bones, Terriack, and Alidra. And we couldn’t even find Alidra’s body, just her fucking boots. So yeah, I would say he is dangerous.” The one with the relaxed tone, clearly the leader, spoke with humor in his voice. They spoke in hushed tones but every word was as clear as day due to the potency of Ejhean’s charm. 

“What are you worried about? We’re gonna get the drop on him and and take him out before he knows what hit him.” A little voice inside told Ejhean to drop a rock slide on these mongoloids just for this one’s cocky attitude, but he stayed his urge to listen to more of what they had to say.

“How long have we been after him? Seems like the meeting that boss ordered about this little street rat was so long ago,” the first voice said with the same breathy hushed tone as the other. 

“It was seven months ago yesterday. I remember that day well. Boss was really amped up about this guy - remember how he banged on the table nearly the whole time he ranted?” They all suppressed their laughter when the leader of them spoke. Ejhean was only barely able to pick up the noises. 

“Yeah, boss was as mad as I’ve ever seen him. I don’t even remember what the little punk did to piss him off so much, I was so distracted by his damned rant,” the first man spoke again.

“Oh, you don’t?” The man with the accent started to chuckle again, but with an arrogant knowing tone to his voice. “How can you not remember? He broke into boss’ estate and stole his Zigari opal necklace, and, well, boss’s wife caught the little punk during the robbery and instead of calling the guards on him. Heh, the harlot let him take another thing of great value from our esteemed Lord Dendren.” 

“You don’t mean-

“Oh  **_I_ ** mean, they fucked on the terrace of boss’ bedroom just before he slipped away. I was there when we found out, but Lady Dendren was long gone by then. She stole some of his mass stores of gold and made off someplace, only made his tirade worse.” The three of the burst into laughter. It was still suppressed but not as much as it should of been for their mission. They made this clear by smacking each other into silence. Ejhean took this opportunity to throw them off. 

He snapped, but no sound came out. Instead the sound of rocks shifting called out from the direction the assassins were moving to. The direction they believed Ehjean to be. 

“Shhhhh, sh sh shhh. You ‘ear that?” The accented one said, and Ejhaen knew they must be communicating non-verbally now. This would make it difficult for the three free adventurers to make it down to their enemies’ level without making a sound. Ejhean could cast a spell to make him fully silent but he didn’t want expend any excess energy before a potential big fight. Ejhean thought for a moment as they continued to silently move across the snowy stone walkway.

“Tox,” he whispered to his little bat who spun around to look at him excitedly, “I need you to go down there at confuse them. Do that high pitched screech that you did the other day. Let’s slowly and silently make our way as close as we can - that’s when we hit ‘em.” He did a double take looking to both Tox and Stygi on either side of him. “Got it?” 

They both nodded in agreement and Tox started to flap his wings slowly, gliding down the chasm towards their attackers. Ehjean took no time to dally, summoning a long and thick rope with a metal barbed hook on the end of it. Ejhean waved his hand over a spot of the rock, creating a shifting distortion over an area of stone. He stabbed into the rock as hard as he could, sinking the metal deep, making no sound. He tied the rope around his belt and started to lower himself slowly. Stygi only need to leap off, his ghostly form floated down like cloth in the wind. 

Ejhean and Stygi made it roughly halfway down the massive ice cavern before the supersonic sound of Tox’s screech was heard. Ejhean acted fast waving away the rope, he dropped fast but whipped out his wand and flicked it. He appeared at the base level where the sound had originated from, not a second after Stygi appeared next to him. They both sprinted through the gray stone tunnel after recovering from their teleport, making their way into a another chamber in the icy labyrinth. 

As soon as Ejhean spotted his would-be killers he shot a beam of glowing dark blue energy at the man closest to him, cutting a hole straight through his chest, sending him to the floor dead on impact. Stygi had his own attack ready when they were in sight. The gengar blinked into melee range of the man on the far right. He swung his claw in a downward arch aimed at the man's gut, a giant crescent of dark ghostly power clawed out and tore the man open with three massive gashes. He writhed in pain as his wounds sizzled, smoked and bubbled before he fell to the cave floor. 

Tox dove at the neck of the one left standing, Ejhean shot another beam of energy towards him. His beam ricocheted off a shield that became visible as soon as it came in contact with the beam, but his ward clearly was not ready for a hungry Zubat. Tox tore into the man’s neck as he thrashed at him with a knife he pulled from his belt. Ejhean flicked his wrist again bypassing the ward with clever inner wording of his spell, jerking the assassins hand back hard. A loud crack echoed through the cave as he screamed and wrestled with the bat who ripped and tore at his now blood-covered neck with extreme vigor. A minute later, the man stopped struggling and screaming, and lay limp while Tox ate away at the exposed innards of the man’s neck. 

“Yikes. God, I hope I get used to the sight of you eating someone like that, buddy.” Tox’s twin tails wagged back and forth intensely and his bloody teeth grabbed chunk after chunk of ruby red meat. Ejhean and Stygi then got to work looting the bodies for  any clues or valuables. They didn’t find much in the way of either, except a small etching of his likeness. 

“Huh…” Ejhean inspected the small parchment closely while Stygi pulled a small sack of gold coins from a hidden pouch of the lead ones outer coat. “Good find Styg, check this out.” Stygi walked over to look at the parchment in his hands. His face remained as puzzled as Ejhean’s was. They looked to each other for a moment before looking down the path of this cavern.

“We never came down this way, did we?” Stygi shook his head in response. “Well, I suppose we should follow this  _ one _ last path before giving this shit up - plus, the guy is dead.” Ejhean paused for a moment to scratch his stomach. “Although, I’m not so sure they found his money. I’m almost certain these three buffoons would have said something about it.” 

Stygi nodded in agreement. Tox seemed to have gotten his fill of meat and was now flying next to Ejhean with a blood-covered maw. The two of them laughed while looking at the happy face while it bobbed up and down with blood literally dripping from its fangs. Their laughter started fairly quietbut grew and grew as the situation dawned on them. Their mirth subsided after a minute or two and Ejhean wiped a tear from his eye.

“What are the chances that the chest is still there? I mean we know where that old man’s house is - they might not have found him there, now that I'm thinking about it.” Ejhean had all but convinced himself of it and decided they would make their way for the man’s house once they left this god-forsaken cave. He looked down at Stygi and who returned a look of support with a knowing grin. 

Their connection was so refined that Ejhean sometimes wondered if his long-time companion could hear his thoughts. Flicking his wand once more before putting it in it’s leather holster to summon a large waterskin, he poured a little into his cupped two hands. He splashed the water at Tox’s face then rubbed the blood off softly with his two gloved thumbs. The Zubat protested a little, wiggling and thrashing with very little effort behind it, but he became clean in a matter of seconds. 

Ejhean  whisked away the waterskin before starting down the path further into the heart of the cave system. He knew it very well at this point, after mapping out the entire thing twice over. But this new path went deeper down than any tunnel before, twisting downward in a coil like a massive stone snake. After a good five minutes of walking, Ejhean stopped as he noticed a small white mist coming from the cave below. He and Stygi turned to look at each other both with curiously excited expressions before starting to run, careful to not slip on the ice. 

The boy was excited and he didn’t really understand why, since he couldn't even brew the potion even if the last ingredient was truly down here. But a half a year of hunting down dozens of pieces to this liquid puzzle had unknowingly stuck with Ejhean and now he was truly curious as to what this potion could do. Not to mention what the assassin had said about it: “  _ The effects of it are almost as varied as the ingredients _ .” Nothing could take the thought of this potion from his mind, and he didn’t want anything to. They continued at their hastened pace down the winding tunnel until the mouth suddenly expanded into a massive dome. In the center of the place was a patch of white short grass, sparkling with the light of the glowing shard of ice stuck into the ceiling of the dome. Covering this grass was dozens of the crystal flower he had been searching so long for. 

“Holy shit. I didn’t think we would find so many.” The sight of the place was almost as beautiful as the knowledge that they finally had done it. “Pick as many as you can Styg, but be careful. We don’t know how sturdy these things are. Tox, would you please wait here and listen for anything coming this way. I’m gonna pick flowers too. An excess of them may prove useful, or valuable.” Ejhean nearly thought he saw Tox smile at his half-hearted joke, 

Stygi was already picking flowers. The two of the picked for a long while. As he had expected, they were not the most sturdy things to ever exist. Stygi placed them on the grass lying face down in a long line; Ejhean followed suit, and soon they had twenty five.

“Alright, that seems good. It would be rude to take them all, wouldn’t it?” Stygi closed his eyes and nodded, mocking Ejhean with his expression. Ejhean pulled his wand from its holster and summoned up his small bag with stars sewn onto the side. He opened it up and looked into the infinite gray space inside, reaching in and grabbing a bolt of linen he had near of pile of bandages and other such items. He slowly slowly began wrapping the flowers individually with cut sections of the linen. Cnce they were all securely wrapped, he placed them in a neat pile inside his starry black bag, further apart from the other piles. Ejhean knew he would want to find these again, and to find them with ease.

“Now, what do you think of that glowing blue gem up there? You think that it’s a bad idea to take that thing? I mean, there is a good chance it’s the reason those flowers grow here, but I'm worried about it having some weird magical connection to the structural integrity of this place.” Ejhean spoke while staring straight up at the bright blue glow before he turned to face Stygi, standing next to him also staring up. Their eyes met and he gave his long-time friend a look that said, “Maybe you could just try touching it?” Ejhean read the expression loud and clear. 

He focused for a second before making himself weightless with a quick swish of his dark wooden wand. He then crouched low before jumping high into the air, enjoying the freedom from gravity’s clutches. He pushed his arms and legs in a mock swimming motion, moving towards the blue, uncut, luminescent gem stuck into the stone of the ceiling. When he was mere inches away, he hesitated, stalling in a free float, staring into the majestic bright light. Ejhean could have stayed there staring at the thing for hours, but he had to try touching it eventually. 

“If this place slowly rumbles and then collapses, I’m gonna fucking lose it,” Ejhean called down to Stygi below before steeling himself. Pulling his glove off his right hand, he hesitantly put his palm on a flat face of the gemstone. Nothing happened. The gem felt cold, but no colder than it should have been for their surroundings. 

“Huh,” Ejhean said aloud, his palm still pressed against the thing. An idea hit him like a spark. He closed his eyes and focused hard. Linking his energy with the gems, he found it had none.

“Alright, I guess it’s nothing. Maybe it’s just the light coming off it that makes these flowers grow.” Ejhean slowly dispelled the effect of his previous charm, drifting to the ground softly. 

“Alright, guys, let’s get out of here.” A small gesture called Tox, who came flying over swiftly. Once all three of them stood close together, Ejhean took a long deep breath in, closed his eyes, and began to channel his energy. After half a minute of concentration, he realised his channel and the three of them disappeared from. They reappeared at the entrance to the entire cave system on the side of a tall snow-capped mountain.

Ejhean had drawn that teleportation glyph eight days ago now. There were times when they were searching through that damned cave he’d thought that the glyph would fade away. The fresh mountain air hit like a wave of relief, giving the three of them newfound energy and spirit. Ejhean summoned the waterskin again and offered some to both of his companions. They both drank some and then Ejhean drained the leather bag of cold water. 

The sun was about two hours behind it’s midday point. Ejhean remembered the docks at the southernmost tip of the island and started off straight at the sun and away from the mountains. The trip down south through the frozen terrain of Nolkuth took them nearly half the time as the trip north took. But, it was still nighttime by the time the made it to Saltrock Cove. 

The spellslinger and his two Pokemon companions made their way through the small wooden town to the docks. On his way here, Ejhean had rented passage on a small fishing ship delivering a shipment to Saltrock. Hopefully he could find himself a similar similar situation soon. He had never missed the heat and sand so much. The path from the town square to the docks was adequately lit by lanterns on poles, and they reached the dock in a short few minutes, not expecting much. 

“I think we may have to spend another night here, and another night camping out. We are low on money and need to save what we have for the boat rides coming up.” He looked down to Stygi, who nodded solemnly back to him then to Tox who half-smiled, half-snarled flapping in place. 

When they passed through the small arch decorated with crossed sword fish stabbed by a harpoon, however, they saw a ship being loaded with crates by a group of large men and woman. All of them in thick leather wrappings and armor. Ejhean came walking up to them confidently.

“Hail! Greeting sailors, I would like to board passage on your ship. Wherever you are going, as long as it’s away from this damned place.” 

“Hah! If you’ve got money, we’ve got ample room.” One of the closer men said heartily. Ejhean pulled out the looted bag of gold coin and shook it, jingling the metal pieces inside. 

“Welcome aboard the Twin Tusk.” A much smaller man said, walking up to them, dressed far more ornately than the other sailors around, sporting a large black-and-gold trimmed hat. “I am Captain Helkavas. You are?” The captain asked, looked at all three of them.

“Ejhean Vrentandri, and these are my friends Stygi and Tox. We were here searching for some frozen flowers. What brings you all to Nolkuth?” he asked, sticking his hand out for the captain to shake. He took it and shook it vigorously.

“Aye, we be just selling some plundered goods to an old friend of mine.” The captain’s voice was firm, yet matched with a coy smile.

“Aha. Pretty standard fare for a troop of pirates such as yourselves. So where will we be sailing?” Ejhean asked, making sure to secure his spot in case these pirates were a fan of the sauce.

  
“We’re on our way to the north shore of Ovaquth. Let me show you to your quarters. It’s not much, but it’s a solid corner of the storage bay. It’s warm and dry and you’ll have a safe journey. I can guarantee that for ya, master  _ Ejhean. _ ” The pirate captain led him off the snowy docks and onto the deck of the large wooden white-sailed ship.      


	14. Castle Riverstead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all sorry about that mini absence! but we back uploading up in this piece

Kyrie  
16th of Delroth  
Castle Riverstead

The ride from Equai’Drell was mostly uneventful as Kyrie had expected. The country of Equaldras was one of the most prosperous and least eventful places in the world.   
But, that didn’t stop Kyrie Thorell from finding trouble on the road. On the first night of camping, she heard a noise while drifting to sleep. A rustling in the bushes. She jolted upright and grabbed her scepter and stared unblinking at the direction of the disturbance. Eetya’s head also perked up, her flaming tail and mane picking up in intensity. The light it was giving off wasn’t ideal, but Kyrie remained stoic and silent, staring into the dark woods ready for anything.   
The rustling dashed around and suddenly she was surrounded by it. Four large tattooed bandits burst forth from the woods, holding weapons and grinning viciously. Kyrie remained utterly motionless, waiting for them to make a move.  
Another noise broke through the night from far behind them all. The four bandits shot their heads towards the noise just as Kyrie and her Rapidash did - the noise grew and bounded towards them like a growing storm. 

“Grab her and run,” one of the bandits shouted to the others, but none of them moved. The sound got louder and louder, tearing apart the foliage in its path. Flaise burst forth through a thicket of bushes, sending shards of thin branches flying all over the clearing. In the next heartbeat, the massive black-horned hound leapt onto one of the bandits and tore his head clean off. Kyrie took the opportunity to launch herself at the stunned bandit closest to Flaise. His stunned state didn’t last long when he saw the tip of her scepter swinging at him and the other two snapped back into life again.   
The bandit swatted away Kyrie’s scepter with the flat of his axe as Flaise tackled another one, taking a hit in the shoulder with a broadsword. The bandit then took his massive muscled hand and grabbed her shoulder hard. Kyrie punched at the man’s stomach, summoning a sphere of deep purple energy that surrounded her fist. He keeled over in pain, coughing up blood that sizzled and bubbled loudly. The last bandit chucked his spear at Flaise, sinking deep into his shoulder. Flaise roared in anger and in response blew a thick jet of blood red fire from his mouth, roasting the man to death in mere seconds. Flaise continued to roar and whimper as Kyrie walked over to him to inspect the wound.

“Oh, Flaisey. Oh god, I know this is painful, buddy, but it’s gotta get worse before it gets better. I gotta pull the spear out before I heal you.” Flaise roared and snapped in response. Most would have jumped back, but Kyrie knew the big black hound would never hurt her.  
Kyrie grabbed a nearby log large enough for Flaise to bite and not destroy instantly. She handed it to him, but he wouldn’t take it. “Flaisey, I need you to bite down on this hard. It will help you deal with the pain.” She stroked his face with the back of her hand in an attempt to calm him down.   
Flaise finally got down onto the ground and let Kyrie grab at the spear lodged in his shoulder. She gripped it hard once he let her get a firm grip on the wooden pole, and knowing that a quicker motion would eventually hurt less, she ripped the spear out with one swift tug. Flaise wailed so loudly Kyrie had to cover her ears and step back to avoid his initial thrashing. She then stepped forward, channeling for a second before placing her hand, glowing with bright green energy, on the deep, bleeding wound. She poured all her concentration into the spell as to speed up its effect. Slowly, she felt the muscle reforming and stitching itself back together. Flaise’s roars and bellows of pain turned to whimpering, then to a soft growl. After another few seconds, she stopped the flow of magic through her hand. Flaise’s tail started to wag furiously as they looked at each other.

The next few days of traveling were utterly uneventful; other than Flaise’s daily hunting excursion, not a thing happened. They just rode along the winding wooded path across the north country road of Equaldras. The only thing to keep Kyrie entertained was the sensation of swift travel on the back of a Rapidash in full gallop and the glorious green landscape: wide rolling hills dotted with large patches of ancient white-treed forests. Between the stretching forests and mountains far off to the north, the grass plains and farm-covered lands were sectioned off by wide rivers and large stone bridges. Kyrie and her two Pokemon ran past lake enormous length of Lake White-wood. As they rode past, they saw a drove of Ponyta grazing on the tall grass and drinking from the crystal blue lake shimmering in the bright sun.  
Kyrie couldn’t help but think about how lucky she was to live and grow up in such a peaceful and beautiful place. Dozens of chirping Taillow out in the edges of the forest were heard giving the scene an almost-manufactured beauty. It took almost a half hour before they crossed the length of the water; this and dozens of other bodies of water replenished and hydrated them on their five day journey across the country.

On the fifth day of travel, the main road they traveled upon started to roll up larger and larger hills, slowing their pace. After they came over the horizon of the latest and largest hill they saw it, Castle Riverstead and it’s tall pointed towers from at least fifty miles away. 

“Wow, would you look at that.” Kyrie whistled and pulled on Eeyta’s reigns. As they slowed to a stop, she stroked the fiery mane of the beautiful white horse.   
“Now that’s a castle. I wonder what it’s like inside the walls.” They started riding down the slightly-sloped path with a much more relaxed pace. It was still early in the day, so she didn’t mind making their way to the massive stone wall of the castle slowly. The road winded its way through the open fields that stretch out between two massive clusters of brown and white trees.   
Between the winding path were yet more farms and pens of well cept horses and other livestock, they grazed casually and serenely in the glow of sunlight beating down on the peaceful scene. Their journey took them almost an hour, but the pleasant sights and smells of the countryside made Kyrie’s ride feel as if it took no time at all. Once they made it to the foot of the mossy gray stone outer wall, they could truly appreciate its grandness - it must have been two hundred feet tall. The large carved stone bricks that built up bulk of the walls and towers must have been ten feet wide and half as tall. The wall was sectioned off by three layers of walkways and openings decorated with ornate merlon and corbel carved with horse heads.

“Who would approach that most ancient and impenetrable Castle Riversted?” One of the two men standing on the first layer of walkways shouted down to her, holding a silvery halberd. The two of them wore tan leather-strapped armor, with thick large alabaster white-plated armor on their shoulders, vambraces, and stomachs.

“Princess Kyrie Thorell, Daughter of Keldor Thorell, King of all Equai’Drell.” Kyrie tried to keep all the smugness out of her voice, but the satisfaction of the man's panicked expression before he called out for the gates to be opened was hard to ignore. The two massive wooden halves of the door creaked open slowly to the sound of clattering chains and spinning gears, churning inside the innards of the gatehouse. She flicked the reins on Eetya’s saddle and the two pokemon made their way through the gate at a casual royal pace, heads held high and legs stepping long and graceful over the well kept stone walkway. The tunnel through the wall and into the city beyond was a much longer walk than it should have been, Kyrie couldn't believe how thick this wall was. Finally breaking out into the sunlight from the dimly light tunnel, Kyrie was completely taken aback by the glorious sight of of the castle city. They emerged from the tunnel onto a wide stone bridge that connected the outer layer of thick stone wall to the inner layer of wall about half the size of the first. Between the outer wall and in the inner was a wide running moat of bright blue water, as they walked across the bridge towards the inner sanctum Kyrie look out across the water. The space between the city’s walls should have felt empty and vacant, but there was not really much space unused. Everywhere stairs and stone walkways lead to tree covered terraces and vegetable gardens, they were built into the sides of the wall and connected to the series of tunnels and walkways that lead in and out of both walls. It was truly a sight that of which Kyrie had never seen before, Equuai falls was nothing if not beautiful and interesting but something about this place was nothing like she expected. From what her father had explained about uncle Falthor and his home here at Castle Riverstead was that it was an old military base. He spoke of the tall walls and towers topped with massive white wood ballista and catapult, and of the squads of soldiers lead by knights that patrolled the streets. The way he talked about it made the place sound like a millitary camp stretched out into a castle city, either he was terrible at explaining places or they had seriously gotten to work making Castle Riverstead nicer. As they got to the white wooden gate decorated with wrought iron intricate metal work it began to open, above was a stone gatehouse clearly populated by guards murmuring about her arrival.

“Hail princess,” a man in formal gray and black robes walked up from behind the gate followed by two guards in the same leather and plate armor as the ones on the outer wall. “Good sun soaked morning to you, oh bright light of our people. I am Minister Weith Terzakis, primary assistant to Lord Falthor.” He smiled and then bowed low to her just at the soldiers saluted with perfect synchronization. He was a pale bald man, shorter than kyrie but not by much and clearly no stranger to the dessert table. Kyrie was used to being spoke to in metaphors and with high regard, but something about the way this man looked and spoke was a bit unsettling.

“Greetings Minister, I’m here to see my uncle. I have urgent business to discuss with him, the sooner the better.” Kyrie spoke firmly, looking him dead in the eye and showing no emotion with her words. The man looked shocked for a split second before responding,

“Of course princess, what shall i say it is in reference to?” the man retained his previous deemerner of formality. 

“Tell him his niece is here with important news from the capital, and send some people to care for my Rapidash. I want her cleaned and her coat trimmed, i won’t be riding back clearly but i would like Eeyta in pampered condition for my return.” Kyrie said still firm but with a kind tone as to not offend the man. 

“At once my lady.” The man and his two tailing soldiers walked off briskly, he flicked his wrist clearing doing some magic. Not ten seconds later a troop of men in workers attire came walking up to Eeyta smiling and taking her reigns. Kyrie stroked her long time friends fiery mane.

“I’ll see you later Eetya, i have business to attend to. These folks will take good care of you, get you all cleaned up.” Eeyta made an excited whiny and shook her head and tail with glee, Kyrie laughed and stroked her mane again.

“And what of your Houndoom m’lady?” one of the workers who had approached to take Eeyta to the stables asked in a friendly voice. 

“I’ll be taking him with me to the palace, he needs to learn his manners at some point.” Kyrie said scratching the jet black fur of her canine friend. He sat on the light gray stone panting and smiling looking around at all the sights to be seen, occasionally getting distracted by a taillow or common bird flying by. “But i would like you all to prepare him a meal, something fairly healthy. Chicken if you have it, and make sure Eeyta gets fed as well.”

“Yes your grace, may i ask you something?” the same attendant said,

“Of course.”

“Where does the name Eeyta come from? It doesn’t sound anything like the names of the Rapidashes owned by our knights and riders.” he spoke clearly without any intention of offense, Kyrie chuckled for a moment. She was more than used to hearing this question.

“Well breaking tradition my father let me choose a newborn Ponyta on my first birthday, and being only an infant myself i couldn’t even say ponyta only then ee-tah. So that's what i named it, when i was older i had the chance to change it but it was already so ingrained into my memory i decided to keep it.”

“Ah i see, quite a cute story actually princess.” the older man smiled his slightly wrinkled smile at her, Kyrie blushed slightly.

“Oh it’s not really, what are the names of the Rapidashes that the Riverstead knights own?” Kyrie was very curious about this. Curious enough to stay her mind from her task at hand.

“Well, there’s Blitzhoof and Ridgemane and Shadow’s burn. You know names like that, why do you ask princess?” the other attendants who had been waiting around were now petting and playing with Flaise.

“Just curious, maybe i’ll say hello to some of them before we have to leave. C’mon Flaise, we’ve got a meeting to go to.” She waved to the attendants walking away and snapping for Flaise to run to her side. Her came bounding over in instantly as she walked down the city street that got ever more populated as the approached the palace off in the distance. Kyrie was beyond intrigued by the sights and sounds of the city, merchants stood next to their carts advertising their products with enthusiasm. The buildings on either side all had their doors pinned opened due to all of the foot traffic coming in and out, people walked around with bags and hand carts filled with their various items. The walk through the market square took them nearly a half hour, but it felt like no time at all she was so enthralled by all the happenings around. They exited the market district of the city over a large stone bridge, it seemed as if each part of the city was separated by wide flowing rivers. All the guards and patrols she passed waved and smiled at her, whispers and laughs followed her everywhere she walked. Word must have gotten out about her presence her at Riverstead, the last time Kyrie dealt with this was when she visited Kendlewood, a small farming village not to far from the capital. But nothing of this caliber, there were hundred of onlookers nudging each other and pointing with comments about her good looks or rumors about her abilities.

“I heard she flew through the Arcane Academy in less than two years.”  
“I heard she trains with the knights and fights with her scepter like its mace.”

“Yeah well i heard her Rapidash is the fastest Equaldras has seen in centuries, it’s speed would put shame to our knights.” That last comment she overheard really stuck in Kyrie’s mind, she was strolling through one of the residential districts now. Each section of the city, separated by the large stone bridges and clear blue rivers, took them awhile to walk through but none were quite so large as the market place they had first arrived in. Overall their trip through the city streets of Riverstead took them just over an hour, they finally reached the first low and wide set of stairs leading up to the gray and redstone palace. They were greeted by guards and approached by another official looking man in robes walking out the metal gate and down the stairs. Kyrie walked up the stairs from where she stood, meeting him halfway up.

“Greetings princess Kyrie, I am minister Jagala, Drezis Jagala. How was your journey?” The man asked smiling warmly and opening his hands and arms wide greeting gesture.

“Wait a minute i thought that other man, that bald guy was the minister.” Kyrie asked ignoring the man’s pleasantry.

“He is, and i am, and two other men. We, the minister's, over see the different districts, social, and political interactions that the city has to deal with. Lord Falthor keeps things very organized.” Kyrie couldn’t help but notice an aura of smugness about the dark skinned, pointy nosed man. She made sure to breathe and keep her cool before responding.

“I can see that,” she faked a smiled and looked around at the clean streets, white carved stones, and layers of ivy kept in neat lengths and hung in aesthetically pleasing locations. “If you all over see, well everything. Then what does lord Falthor do with his time?” Kyrie instantly noticed a twinge of taken offense on the man’s face. “I didn’t mean to insult your lord, i was merely curious. I never thought our two cities could be so different.”

“Aha, well it’s alright you were simply unaware. Your uncle spends nearly all of his time out in the fields, training with his knights and soldiers. He delegates all other work to the four of us and a few other attendants he has, other than that he throws the occasional feast and attendants all of the competitions and tournaments. He is a very active lord in the community, and he does oversee all of the decisions we’re to make in weekly meetings.” Drezis Jagala said smiling and speaking in the best politicians voice Kyrie had ever heard. “In Fact i think lord Falthor is probably out on the training ground right now, would you like me to take you to him or would you rather wait until he is not so occupied?” 

“No that’s alright you can take me there now, i’m fairly certain he is going to want to hear this right away.” Kyrie said trying her best not to smile, if her uncle was truly that much of a warrior at heart then his reaction to this summance to war would be exactly what they needed. 

“Very good princess, right this way.” Minister Jagala said turning and walking back up the stairs towards the gate, Kyrie followed close behind the man and his two soldier escorts just like the Minister back at the edge of the marketplace. Flaise walked at Kyrie’s side still amazing by the sights of this new wondrous place, his head darting from person, to tree, to building and anything else he could focus on. They walked through the fancy silver metal gate in between two medium sized walls, carved silhouettes of knights on the back of flaming horses. Beyond the gate was a large green meadow covered with small flower gardens and patches of fruit trees. The paths through the hilly trimmed wide stretching lawn branched around the oval rocked walled gardens and around the groves of white wood trees. They walked down a path of carved round stones that wrapped around the left leading away from the red and graystone palace on the other side of the grounds.

“Might i say princess, your Houndoom is quite well trained, most of our Houndoom live in large dirt pens and brawl with each other over food scraps.” the minister chuckled a little.

“Oh that’s how we have keep them in Equuai Falls too, i just picked one of the newborn houndour to raise and train myself.” Kyrie was surprised to receive a compliment from Drezis, something about him seemed gave off an aura of being hard to please.

“Well you have done an amazing job with him.” The minister said, the path they walked upon continued to wind down and around while the terrain remained at the same level above. The cliff face next to them slowly grew as the path went down towards the open fields in the lands below. Littering the fields were hundreds and hundreds of warriors running long laps and sparring with each other. The details of the their training were hard to see from this far away, but grew clearer and clearer as they made their way down the path of tiny gray rocks. The circular fields were surrounded by more white trees, creating natural barriers all around. Their training ground were completely enclosed down in the valley, for a second Kyrie had forgotten they were in the middle of a mountain range.

“Wow, look at them all.” Kyrie whistled staring down into the fields. 

“Hah yes there is quite a few, not to mention the hundreds we have patrolling and covering our walls and towers.” Kyrie started to feel like this was already going well, her uncle was a fight crazed old man and Riverstead must have had close to a thousand bodies to add to the Equaldra armies. She was thinking ahead but she decided not to blame herself, the pieces were definitely seeming to come together. The winding cliffside path wrapped wide around the three large circular fields before flattening out into the grass below. Kyrie noticed Flaise anxiously pawing at the gravel and darting his head back and forth much faster than usual,

“Oh alright boy, go run have fun. But don’t you damn dare get in their way Flaisey.” She clapped her hands twice releasing him, Flaise sprinted out into the wide open grass as fast as he could. In a matter of seconds he was a black blur flying across a sea of green. 

“Our lord will be this way.” they walked back around the cliff face they were just walking down, towards the first field. The one the Riverstead warriors trained in. It took them a good twenty minutes before they reached the first round patch of grass, once their Kyrie got a good look at the sparring and various other exercises. They all wielded wooden shields and weapons but clearly did not hold back with their swings. All of them fought and battled like it was a real war, Kyrie saw people tossed to the ground full force. The sound of wood against wood and against skin sold the fact that these men trained hard, they trained like real warriors.

“Lord Falthor! You have a visitor!” Drezis shouted over the clattering, yelling, and grunting. Much of the noise nearby died down, and an older shirtless man with thick gray hair on his head and chest walked out from the crowd holding a large wooden sword in one hand. He was much taller than Kyries father and also a good deal larger and ten times as muscular, he had a big jaw like her father had but with a large mouth. His nose was large and round at the tip, his thick gray eyebrows framed his face and gave him a harsh gaze.

“Who is it? Who would have the gall, the utter fucking balls to come at me with some bureaucratic god damned papers to sign or some piece of shit dispute between business. If this isn’t important i’m going to tear their head off.” He stopped walked and look straight at Kyrie, looking puzzled. “Who’s this, why do i know your face at the same time you are a stranger to me.” 

“Well i can see why you and my father didn’t get along so well. Hello uncle Falthor, i am your niece princess Kyrie.” she smiled wide at him, never expecting her father’s brother to be so brash and foul mouthed, she loved it.

“Your..? Your my niece?! There is no way my limp dicked brother could have made you. You’re far too good looking and you appear to have far to great intelligence to be his daughter.” Falthor laughed a hearty infectious laughter, many of the surrounding men and women laughed along with him. The ones not in the immediate vicinity went back to their individual and group trainings,

“Why thank you Lord Falthor, i-

“None of the lord crap alright, i’m your uncle and you call me uncle. Got it?” His smile was genuine and as unthreatening as it could be. Kyrie chuckled for a moment,

“Hah, alright uncle. I am here to bring you a message from my father.” Kyrie said with an unwavering tone,

“Oh. And what does he want.” Her uncles tone suddenly became very serious and did not reveal any emotion.

“He would like to eat crow, uncle my father is sorry for how things were between you two so long ago. He misses you uncle, he was been wanting to do this for a long time now. But as you know being a monarch is busy work.”

“Hah he’s just as dim as always,” Falthor’s voice returned to its natural life and mirth as he bursted into more laughter. “I’ve been over it for years, just waiting for him to come and talk to me first. I can’t lie i’m a little irked that the stupid little coward never came and talked to me himself, and that he never introduced me to my niece. But all is well between us and the fact that he didn’t know brings joy to me.” Falthor laughed again for a minute and then walked forward dropping his sparring sword and sticking his arms out wide. Kyrie walked forward into the massive arms of her uncle, he embraced her firmly and squeezed. 

“It’s wonderful to meet you uncle.” Kyrie said to softy to him, a sadness grew inside her as she thought about all of the memories they could have had together. But she couldn’t get mad at her father though, she knew how busy he was nearly every day it’s not wonder he had never introduced them. 

“It’s wonderful to meet you to Kyrie, why don’t you and i go back to the palace and have some food. Something tells me you have more to say than just your father's apology.” Her uncle spoke softly to her and put his around her shoulder after they broke loose of their hug. They started to walk back towards the natural ramp going back up the cliff,

“You are very astute, you right i do have more to discuss with you uncle. And no wonder you are in such good shape, how often do you make the walk down here?”

“Oh nearly every day young one, yes we all keep up our training despite having no need for it.” Falthor seemed almost sad at this, further pushing the idea in her mind that this is going to go even better than it already had. They walked and talked for a good while, up the long winding slope and through beautiful grounds before making their way into the palace.

“Wow, it’s so different!” Kyrie nearly shouted once they made it through the foyer and into the main hall. Two twin spiral staircases with golden handrails say at each end of the room, the ceiling must have been two hundred feet high. Large banners of the Equaldras symbol hung all over the large sections of wall, in the upper levels of the main room walkways stretched across connecting the two halves of the palace. 

“Hah, yeah it’s not much like ol’ Equuai Falls. How do you like it?” Her uncle said back to her leading them towards the further spiral staircase.

“Oh i love it! It would take me awhile to decide if it’s better than the palace back at Equuai Falls, but it is quite the site to see. What will we be eating? My stomach is singing a gurgling chorus of hunger, conjured food doesn't really cut it once that’s all you’ve had for days.” Lord Falthor chuckled for a moment,

“Probably fish,” he sighed heavily, “We always eat fish here, being so close to the shore. I try not to pull the monarch card very often, but sometimes i gotta pull it out as to have a feast of pork or lamb. Or my all time favorite, beef. But fear not my lovely young niece, the vegetables we grow here in the Falstead mountain range are some of the best in the world.” They both started up the stairs swifty, the room where they were to eat in was five stories from the ground. They strode quickly up the stairs and down the hall towards their room, the smell of food building as they approached the room. The hall was decorated with more Equaldras banners, suits of armor of the wall, and crossed swords over torches every few feet or so. They walked through the open door and into the small room, the table in the middle was topped with a few large platters of food. They sat, loaded up their plates, and began to eat. Her uncle was right about two things, the vegetables were delicious and as fresh as can be, and they ate fish. The two of them continued to share memories and stories of their lives, they lived at opposite ends of the country and Kyrie never would have expected how different things could be. They ate and talked for a long while, but after dessert was served Lord Falthor looked seriously at her and asked.

“What do you need to tell me, enough stalling.” his thick eyebrows flared at her.

“Okay uncle here it is, a letter came to my father from a long unheard from ally. A letter calling for help, the island nation of Galavadra has attacked the forest dwelling Thuusains. The ancient warrior clan, they have called for our aid and father needed me to come talk to you. The best warrior and commander our nation had known in centuries, if we are to go to war we need you to lead us. A woman named Akiva has risen to power and take over sole command of all of Galavadra, she has turned the country into her own millitary industrial complex. Pumping out new iron siege weapons, and other arms the likes of which we have never seen before. Uncle she is on a road to conquest with no signs of stopping, there is a very good reason that they struck a first blow against our old elven allies.” Falthor looked sternly, elbows on the table and hands together he leaned his chin on the bridge made from his arms.

“This is troubling news Kyrie.” He stood up looking out the window they happened to be facing the training grounds. “I have always dreamed of the day we would have to ride out again, but i only ever imagined it would be an uprising somewhere. Or maybe a pirate attack, but i would have never wanted a full fledged war. But of course you have our support, every last knight and soldier we can spare. I will have to get my armor polished, being a field commander always requires you to be looking sharp.” He turned away from the window and smiled back at her,

“Thank you uncle, my father had similar trepidations about going to war. But if it’s to stop the possibility of worldwide conqueror than it must be done, we are Equaldras and we do not shy away from a fight.”

“To bad we haven’t had a real one in years.” They both laughed hard for a moment, then their expressions turned hard and slightly disheartened.

“Well uncle i’ve got to leave, the flow of messages shall be coming soon as we have plans to discuss, make sure your Swellows are well fed.” Kyrie walked towards him arms raised for another hug, her uncle embraced her.

“I will be contacting the other cities and townships and collecting numbers to start, from their i only have about a hundred other things to do.” Kyrie giggled at him.

“I should go, goodbye uncle.” Kyrie turned away and walked swifty out the door and down the hall, she flew down the stairs despite the large meal in her stomach. Running through the hall and out the main door back into the beautiful fields, Kyrie ran to the top of the long slow slope down to the training grounds. She snapped her fingers and then used a quick spell to amplify the sound of the snap, far out in the fields Flaise perked his ears up and then sprinted at her. It only took him a few minutes to make it across the field and up the grass ramp.

“Good boy.” she scratched his head as he stood in front of her panting lightly. “Flaisey do you remember when we tried out that chariot a few months ago?” Flaise nodded still panting. “Aha good boy, well we are gonna do that again. I want to get back home fast and this city is enormous.” Kyrie walked around to the back of Flaise, and began to focus and channel her energy. She stuck her hand out and released the seal of magic through her hands, a small wooden chariot appeared connected to a saddle. Kyrie took a few minutes to attach it to her Houndoom, then in a flash they were off. 

“Flaise go to the stables where Eeyta is.” the wheels of the chariot spun fast as they flew towards the iron gate, Kyrie waved her hand forcing the gate to swing open. They shot through it and down the stairs, the trip across the town only took them fifteen minutes with the help of her summoned chariot and the speed of Flaise. Whenever anything got in their path Kyrie would simply vanished the object or person, returning it to the world seconds after the passed. A harmless spell that Kyrie had more than mastered.

“Well greetings again princess,” the stable attendant from before came out and greeted her after he ordered her Rapidash to be fetched. 

“Hello again, how was she?”

“Ah, she was kind and soft and easy to deal with, she was a dream your grace.” He smiled, the soft clop of Eeyta’s hooves could now be heard. “Would you still like to visit with the other Rapidash?”

“Alas i have no time, my message was delivered and now i have lots to do. So sadly i must go without meeting Blitzhoof.” She mounted Eeyta and snapped, vanishing the chariot attached to Flaise. They bolted out the open gate and across the stone bridge towards the massive outer wall, they were stalled for a few moments waiting for the gate to slowly creak open. Once out riding through the fields beyond the Castle Riverstead, Kyrie began to gather her energy yet again knowing that teleporting back home would be good for their future, despite how taxing it would be to take all three of them that far. She let her channel build for twenty minutes of riding as to ease to mental tax of her spell, but she released her stored magic and deep echoing thrum called out a second before she closed her eyes. They appeared still running in the grassy fields, not a mile away from the walls of Equuai Falls.


	15. The Burrowed Bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Almeric is having a boring day, i wonder if that'll change....

Almeric

20th of Delroth

The Burrowed Bear

 

Almeric woke to the jostling noise of several sibling running around and screaming in floors below Almerics room, he squinted up at the wooden ceiling. Letha, curled up on top of his thick covers, growled in protest of the sudden jolt from their sleep.

 

“Yeah i know girl, but i suppose we have to get up eventually.” Almeric closed his eyes, hating himself for his own words. They both stretched out for a moment before licking their lips. Almeric grabbed his water-skin that sat next to him on a small table, he drank a few large swigs before offering some to his Growlithe. Almeric took a few minutes to get dressed in his wintry garb, the days had only gotten colder here in Buruul as Delroth got closer to its end. They had no need to go hunting for the day but Almeric still decided to put on his traveling boots on, nothing made him feel as if it was necessary, but he did it anyway. Letha finally jumped off the bed stretching long and slow once more, her tail started to wag and joy returned to her deemener. Almeric left through his dark wooden door and closed it behind him, locking it with a small key. He had learned to lock the door after a few knives and other items had gone missing from his room. They walked down the hall towards the spiral staircase at the far end, Almeric took each stair slow as to annoy Letha. The smells of the cooked breakfast meats in the kitchen were clearly driving the Growlithe mad, she started running down past him and then back up trying to made Almeric speed up his pace. They eventually passed through the main hall of the house and down a small staircase, then through another hall before reaching the kitchen.

 

“Well well, look who decided to get his lazy ass up. Welcome to the land of the living Almeric, have some food.” Almeric’s mother, Veyla, stood behind a counter covered in platters of food that had been torn apart and left in scraps.

 

“Gee, thanks.” he sat down at the counter grabbing a plate and getting the good bits of remaining breakfast food. He managed to get himself a reasonable plate of eggs, a half eaten piece of jam covered bread, and a few links of sausage.

 

“And Almeric, Loric and the gang decided that since you were the last one up,” she turned from stove to look at him. “You should be the one to clean up after breakfast.” Almeric groaned loudly in protest, mouth full of eggs and sausage.

 

“Are you kidding? Since when has that ever been a rule around here?” He took the last sausage and handed it down to Letha who took it enthusiastically, she would get her own food with all the other pets in a few hours but Letha was his best friend.

 

“Oh Almeric, don’t whine. After you finish cleaning up i’m going to need you and Letha to go into town and pick up a few things from the merchant’s.” she smiled at him but spoke with a hint of condescension in her voice, he exhaled loudly jerking his head back.

 

“Alright fine, just get me a list and i’ll get it done.” Almeric faked a smile and got to work on the mess spread across the entirety of the kitchen. Veyla took of her aproned and strode gracefully out the way Almeric had come in, she turned at the door frame to look back at her son.

“Thank you Almeric, you’re a pretty good kid i hope you know.” She smiled at him before leaving the room whistling to her pet Mareep, Freatha, to come running from her napping spot on the windowsill. Almeric scrubbed at the counter with a warm cloth and then ringed it out into a bucket in the corner, he repeated this process on all surfaces and and anywhere else that needed it. All in all Almeric was cleaning for about an hour while Letha ate scraps that he had collected for her, when he finally finished he decided to stall going into town for a little while.

 

“C’mon Letha, come get some real food.” She wagged her tail and darted over to him, the two of them left through the back door in the kitchen out to the main yard. Normally the yard would be littered with the stoneguard children and their pokemon but the sharp cold and bitter winds forced the Stoneguards to stay in their house. But the pet food storage cellar was outside so the two of them had to trudge through the snow in order to feed Letha. The door the the cellar was frozen shut,

 

“Oh damn, Letha we need some heat.” Almeric leaned down and scratched behind her ear before gesturing towards the frozen metal door. Letha reared her neck back slightly and made a small opening in her mouth, before letting loose a small but precise jet of fire. She cut through the ice in front of the handle in a matter of seconds, Almeric grabbed the handle and heaved hard. The door swung open hard with the sound of more ice breaking and metal scraping against the stone below, he stepped inside a grabbed a large leg of meat and then slammed the door behind as he stepped back outside. The cellar was light by a few cold-light gems on the ceiling. Letha stared at the leg unblinking and unflinching, Almeric would normally give it to her right there but it was far too cold to eat outside so the two of them walked back around and into the back kitchen door. He tossed the leg of icy cold meat to his Growlithe once back inside, she breathed small puffs of fire all over it careful not to overcook it. Almeric was absolutely dreading going into town, being a Stoneguard was a damned curse. Nearly everyone he passed by either stared at him or boldy came up to him to say some heartfelt thank you or long story about how their father, or grandfather, or great great great fucking uncle had fought alongside one of the many Stoneguard heroes across Buruul’s military history. But he knew that he had to do it and the faster he got it done the better he would feel about it. Maybe he’d have time to do some real training with Varrick and Bellona if he got back early enough. 

 

“Letha, i know you're enjoying your meat right now but would you run up and grab my bag from our room for me? I’m gonna get that list from mom.” Letha growled at him in protest for a second, before her eyes widened and she ran out the kitchen with a shank of beef clutched firmly in her jaw. Almeric decided not to investigate and to go find his mother, he searched the main hall, the library, and his parents room but couldn’t find her anywhere. He made his was back down to the kitchen looking for letha, who sat on the floor her tail wagging hard. Almerics mother Veyla sat crouched down petting and scratching Letha’s neck, 

 

“Oh hello Almeric, nice job on the cleaning.” she looked around the room smiling kindly,  “Here is the list of things i need, and the hand cart is out front.”

 

“The hand cart? God’s damn what all am i getting.” he said unfolding the piece of parchment and looking at his mother’s bold script.

 

“It’s just for the bags of flour, we are running low and you know how much we use.” She looked at him and smiled knowingly, Almeric did sympathize with his mothers need for food to prepare. Even with all of the help she receives from her children, the task of feeding a family so large was still an extremely demanding one. 

 

“Alright well i’m going to be off soon, is there anything else you would like me to grab? I’m bringing my bad so i can get more if you need.” Almeric smiled back at her, as always trying to remain on her good side.

 

“Actually yes here is some extra coin,” she held out her hand filled with a few small pressed silver squares with the corners cut and hemmed, “Grab some Vreeth berries, fill your bag if you can. I’ve an urge to whip up a few dozen pies.” She smiled even wider, Veyla knew her son well and tempting him with his favorite dessert was an easy way to raise his enthusiasm. Almeric whistled for Letha to come to his side, and they left the kitchen towards the small staircase leading to the main hall. They walked quickly through the hall and went around to one of the side door out to the main yard. 

 

Once outside he took a few moments to latch Letha up to the hand cart, they then walked through the thick snow towards the large outer stone wall of Stoneguard keep. He stopped and sighed loudly once he reached the gate, then walked over the wheel mechanism and began the slow arduous process of opening the gate. It took at least three minutes of turning the cold dark iron wheel before the gate was opened enough to for the cart to fit through, Letha walked through the opening to the other side, she sat waiting as Almeric cranked the wheel again until it closed tight, he then ran over the thick stone staircase a ways away running up it to the top of the wall. Almeric’s breath was heavy from all the movement but after another few seconds of running he reach the rope ladder right next to the gate. He climbed down in a flash and the bundled the thing up for a seconds before throwing it back up onto the stone wall, 

 

“Finally.” They started forward on the rounded stone path covered by a boot high layer snow, “That god damned gate is half the reason i hate going into town.” The scent of the line of tall pines trees on either side of them was intoxicating, sometimes the mustiness of a the manor drove almeric a bit insane and when it was this cold there really wasn’t much of a point in going out without a reason. His cheeks may have already started to burn but the smells, sounds, and sights of the winding forest road was worth the slight sting.

 

“Ahh,” he rubbed his hand incredibly fast to whip out some quick friction based heat through his gloves, “I bet this cold isn’t as bad to you girl, i’m as green with envy as the pines of the trees beneath their blanket of snow.” He was feeling good, and when Almeric was feeling good he got poetic. He started to whistle a jaunty tune as they walked, Letha joined in with some melodic barks and yaps. Their musical travel helped kill the time, Stoneguard manor was nearly ten miles from the north end of town so this trip was anything but a short a one. Several times on their long walk they saw groupings of elk crossing the road looking for an active stream, other times he noticed Snorunts peering around tree trunks to spy on them during their walk. All in all they must have been walking for three and a half good hours, they only stopped once one the road for a short rest when they found a good patch of fallen pines needles untouched by the fall of winter. A short while after leaving their resting spot and after coming around a particularly long wind around a patch of trees, Almeric spotted the tall wooden walls of Sprucepost. As always the north gate of Sprucepost was nearly deserted, one guard stood leaning against one of the main posts smoking a pipe and staring off into the woods. As They approached the gate it started to open and the single guard nodded to them and gestured friendly with his pipe in hand. 

 

“Afternoon Almeric, the air be bitter and cold this day but my leaf keeps me warm.” He smiled through his thick brown beard then inhaled another long draw of his brown pipe. The sun was setting and casting brilliant golden light over the land, 

 

“Aye, that’s how it is here in Buruul. In an unending battle with the cold we are.” Almeric walked past the man waving and into the open gate of the sizeable town of Sprucepost, they walked through the wood and metal gate into the north residential district. The houses and manors on either side of them were each as unique as the last, dozens were painted in color and most others had a nice glaze as to keep the wood strong and attractive. They walked fairly slow going through the residential district, making sure to wave back at all those who greeted him and as to get a good look at some of the nicer and larger manors. 

 

“Oi Almeric!” a woman Almeric’s age came running over from a nearby porch followed by her pet vulpix, “What brings you into town?” she asked smiling kindly, her round rosey face almost radiating warmth.

 

“Afternoon Bella, how's it going?” He and Letha stopped their walking as she came walking over, Bella’s vulpix walked up to Letha and started to sniff and lick at her face.

 

“Doin’ alright myself, Snowfur and i are just enjoying the day.” She kept smiling wide and warm, Bella had always had a warm presence even as a young child.

 

“What is there to enjoy about today? It’s colder than the bottom of the fucking sea.” Bella laughed at his joke covering her mouth and blushing, Almeric had long sensed that she felt an attraction to him and he had only ever felt guilty about it since discovering this.

 

“You’re so funny, you’ve always been so funny even when we were  young.” She batted her eyes twice and looked intently at him, Almeric had to fight off an actual grimace. “Would you want to go on a walk out to the dock with me Almeric?”

 

“Oh god Bella, you know i would normally love to but i have a task to complete for my mother. She needs some ingredients for our house and has sent me to grab them, you know we live quite a ways away.” He smiled back hoping to all hell that she felt like he was being honest. He did have to get the items for home but a walk wouldn’t kill him. He just really did not want too.

 

“Not a bother,” she kept smiling just as genuinely and bright as before, “Maybe tomorrow?” 

 

“Hah, yeah maybe!” Almeric said a little too loud as he and letha started to walk away down the swept stone path, she waved from behind him and the kicked her way back over to the porch she had been sitting on. 

“Heh, close one Lethy. God why does she have to be so obsessed with me? Every damn time i come into town she berates me.” Letha grumbled in response and then huffed, “Yeah i know you like Snowfur, and i have to admit it is a very beautiful arctic Vulpix but c’mon Letha. She’s just not my type.” Amleric spoke under his breath so only his Growlithe could hear him, he was a bit paranoid about being followed by Bella and Snowfur. They continued on through the streets and into the central business district of Sprucepost, where the livelihood didn’t improve much. The only people who were outside ran quickly out one building and into another, sometimes clutching wrapped meats or new wrapped blankets. Almeric and Letha made their way past the shops and the people dating in and out of them, to Gardok’s Granary. The Stoneguards had been patronizing Gardok’s for as long as it had been open, Gardok had fought in battle with Almeric’s father. He pushed open the heavy wooden door, a bell rang out as the door swung open into the warm and bright tall store.

 

“Close the door, close the door!!.” Gardok’s husband, Kels, came running over and slammed the door after shoving Almeric and Letha still pulling the hand cart close behind her black and white mane.

 

“Sorry Kels.” Almeric blushed a little, he always like Kels and Gardok. They were always nice to him and would sometimes single him out with treats when he would come in with his whole family.

 

“No need, please come in and tell us what you need.” Kels, smiled through his orange beard and lead them over to the counter. “How's your family? How’s old Loric? 

 

“Ah he’s good, still just as big as ever.” Kels laughed for a moment. “And your mother’s good too? She must be kept quite busy by all the hungry mouths.”

 

“That’s why we are here, getting some flour, oats, and sugar and as always we are buying in bulk.” Almeric spoke confidently to him, they always made him feel comfortable and happy when he was here so speaking to them was as easy as could be. “Where’s Gardok?”

 

“Oh he’s down in the cellar, i’ll bring this to him and we’ll bring your bags up in a moment good boy. Why don’t you go have a seat by the fire and warm up, we’ll be back up in a flash.” Kels hurriedly along behind the counter, around a counter, and then Almeric heard the sound of boots stepping down stone stairs. He took the older man’s advice and sat down in a large arm chair by the fire, the two of them ran their business out of their home so it was much cozier than other places on the strip. Almeric wanted to unhook the cart, but also he knew that they would invite him to sit down and have some food if he got to comfortable. So Almeric stood up from his large bearskin armchair, and stood near the fluttering and dancing flame. A few minutes went by before he heard more steps coming back up the stairs, this time encumbered with more weight. Almeric walked over to the counter followed closely by Letha pulling their hand cart,

 

“Almeric!” Gardok shouted in excitement dropping the two massive burlap sacks filled as much as they could be, he darted over and lifted Almeric up with a massive embrace. “How are ya son? How’s the family?” He looked down at Letha who wagged her tail excitedly staring up at him, Gardok set Almeric down before kneeling over to pet her.

 

“Ah we’re all good, just dealing with the cold like the rest of you.” They all three laughed loudly, “Thank you for the supplies we are desperately close to running out, here you go.” Almeric handed over the bag of polished silver pieces, Gardok reluctantly took it after a moment.

 

“Lords of the sea and sky i’ll never truly be comfortable taking money from the Stoneguards, but i guess that’s what we fought so hard for. It just feels odd taking silver from the son of the man who saved my life literally dozens of times.” Gardock smiled and reached back to scratch the back of his head as he spoke, looking from his husband Kels to Almeric.

 

“Gardok, i thought we were past all of this. You and i both know that if we took your grains and sugars for free we would run you out of business, there are twenty two people who live in Stoneguard manor and your grain feeds us all. Take the silver and spend it to make your lives better just as you do to ours.” Almeric smiled at both of them, before putting his hand on Gardoks shoulder. He put his massive muscled and scarred hand on top of Almerics, but Kels was the one to speak.

 

“Look at you two saps, he’s here to buy some food hon not be berated by sappy tales of old battles. Now c’mon Almeric sit back down and i'll fix us all some tea and cake.”

 

“Uhm no, sorry  i can’t, i've got to get home as soon as i can. Mother is making Vreeth berry pies so I've got to get these bags back to her.” Almeric said firmly and dismissively, making sure as to not be roped into it. The two bearded men looked sad for a moment, but then snapped back into their normal deemener.   


“It’s alright, another time perhaps.” Gardok said slightly less enthused than before. Almeric waved goodbye to them and pushed through the door after tying the three large bags to the cart. They walked back out into the biting cold, Almeric only needed to make one more stop and then they could go back. But they would just  go back to the normality of life at Stoneguard manor, where nothing new or interesting ever happened. Suddenly his mood dampened thinking about the pointlessness of his life, even if the world called for the need of more Stoneguards there was Varrick and Bellona to be the new heros. There was no need for Almeric, his pace unknowingly slowed do a dull shamble. Eventually he made it to the store that sold fruit, and went in to to buy as many Vreeth berries as he could. 

 

“Hello there cold one isn’t it, what can i get you.?” the tall woman who ran the counter said in a cheery voice. Almeric took the remainder of his money and slapped it on the dark oak counter, 

 

“As many Vreeth berries as i can get.” The woman nodded before counting up the coin and then taking Almerics bag that he held outstretched in his right hand. She walked into the back, leaving Almeric and Letha standing in the small store front bored and mucher colder than they were at Gardock’s. Almeric heard voices outside talking in hushed tones, but the word “Stoneguard” stood out from all of the muttering he heard. Suddenly anxiety washed over him, what were they talking about? He tapped his foot fast hoping beyond hope that the woman would come back fast, he desperately wanted to find out what the two men were talking about.

 

“Ere’ you go.” she handed over the brown bagged stuffed with tons of the large white berries, Almeric snatched it fast and slung it over his shoulder in a snap. 

 

“Thanks!” Almeric shouted running out of the building looking around for the two men, he saw nothing but Letha was pointing her nose in the direction of two sets of matching footprints leading deeping into the market district of Sprucepost. He and Letha followed followed the trail making sure not to make much noise at all, Letha instinctively picked up on his new found focus and mimicked it. The path lead them a good ways into the town, they were starting to near the central market where the fairs and events were held but the path of footsteps turned sharp into the Burrowed Bear’s pub. 

 

“Shit” he said under his breath, Almeric knew he couldn’t just walk into the bar. If the men were talking about his family then they would probably know who he was, and just like everywhere in this town he would be recognized. Not to mention he wasn’t yet old enough to drink. He and Letha walked briskly around to the back alley of this stirp of buildings, they were close to the center of town so most of these buildings had stone basements and large foundations underground. Once around to the alley Almeric scoured up and down for a way into the pub, he was close to giving up when a window swung open above the back entrance to the kitchen. The noise of the bar broke into the night sky, a man clearly already taken by the drink, stuck his pelvis and cock out the window and began to relieve himself. Almeric crouched low and walk closer to large stack of empty crates and cages a few feet below the window.

 

“Stay here girl, and try to stay unnoticed.” Right as he finished speaking Letha ran over to a sizeable outcropping in the wall and huddled up in the corner, the hand cart fit neatly in next to her. Just as Almeric had hoped and expected, the drunk man left the window wide open letting out a feint waft of salty smoke meat and dark ale. Almeric slowly and quietly climbed up the crates using the many fastend planks as foot holds. At the top of the piles of crates he was only a few feet away from the open window. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them furiously psyching himself up for the jump, it was not a very long jump but grabbing onto the edge of the windowsill without making a thud would be a challenge. The challenge of not toppling the stack of crates and cages with the shift of weight, was something he did not consider. Leaping from where he stood to the windowsill in a swift motion he sent the top few crates tumbling down the stack and crashing down to the stone street below. Almeric had to pull himself up into the room fast, someone would most definitely have heard that inside. Luckily the room he pulled himself into was an empty washroom, outside he heard the door to the kitchen swing open and the footsteps of a pair of man came walking out into the snowy alley.

 

“Fuck was that?” One of the voices called out into the night,

 

“Dunno, probably just a stray who found a bit of scrap of stuck to one of them crates, c’mon let's get back to it.”

 

“How’d you know it’s nothing something we should be worried bout?” The first voice asked back with a nervous inflection,

 

“Hah, you really aren’t from here are you?”

 

“No sir, like i said i'm ere all the way from Galavadra i am.” The first man said again, they started walking back into the kitchen and seconds later the sound of a door slamming closed echoed across the dark alley. Almeric was peering out the window as the two men spoke, but now he turned back to look at the empty bedroom he was in. It was light by several torches despite not being used, Almeric’s mind was racing trying to think of a way to properly spy on the two men in the bar below without being spotted. 

 

The sound of the bar ruckus below lead Almeric to believe that that he could merely dawn his hood and find a table off to the side. Hopefully if he stayed low and didn’t bring any attention to himself it would work. Almeric slowly approached the door, careful with each step he took not to make any noise. He grabbed the brass door knob carefully and turned it, he pulled the door open increasing the joyous noise of music, roaring laughter, and lots of conversations. Almeric peered his head out the door darting it back and forth in rapid succession, the upstairs rooms rarely got their use until the end of the night but Almeric needed to be sure. After making sure the coast was clear he put his hood up through up a casual facade, the key to his success was a cool attitude and drawing no attention to himself. 

 

He walked calmly towards the broad wooden stairs around the other side of the room. Making sure to stick close to the wall, he could still be seen from below but multiple people stood up on the balcony drinking and conversing. He walked passed them without moving his head at all, then he walked smoothly down the flight of stairs into the chaotic bar below. Almeric scanned around for any sight of them before remembering he never got a good look at them, his best option know was to walk around and listen for any key words or see any unfamiliar faces. Living in one place your whole life does help one to learn all the names, faces, and voices of that place, and most importantly it helps one to spot a stranger. 

 

Almeric scanned around the room moving swiftly passed people and listening closely and scanning every face he could, eventually he saw the two strangers sitting at a corner table next a window. Almeric took a table close by but not too close as to not raise suspicion,

 

“We couldn’t do it” The first man said, his accent was unknown to Almeric but most accents of the world were as such for him. 

 

“Yes we could! Boss said the stones are here in Buruul, stolen during the seven season war. The Idgyocy forces docked here for a day and during that time some idiot took the chest containing the stones here.” he tapped the table hard with his pointer finger several times. “Right here to the Burrowed Bear, this man this Loric Stoneguard stole the chest from the soldier who brought it here.” The man spoke in hushed tones but he spoke passionately and with great haste.

 

“So what’s the plan then? We just barge our way up to Stoneguard manor and take the things!? We don’t know if he still has the chest, for all we know he sold the thing and helped build his enormous damn family. The man has more than a dozen children Yavier,” The man apparently named Yavier look stunned for a moment at hearing this, before shaking his head sternly for a second.

 

“No, no, listen to me Giles. The Stoneguards are well known, among the right circles. And in those circles they know the Stoneguards love their pokemon, Loric fault every battle with his Ursaring at his side. He would know that they were firestones and not just red gems, he would know to keep them. He lives in a castle at the the top of road with his family, we go over there, sneak in, find em’, and leave.” Yavier said excitedly gesturing firmly with his mug.

 

“Yavier, he has more than a dozen children. And some of them could twenty years old by now and if they were trained by Loric, then you and i both know that they would be a real threat to us. They don’t recruit us for out combat prowess remember? We’re not even supposed to be here so early gods dammit.” The man named Giles spoke firmly with a strong tone of worry in his voice, “If we do try your ridiculous plan and fail, we’re dead. Boss won’t care about our reasons he’ll just send Cellroy or Ixeses to come and dispose of us. We’re better off just doing as ordered, gathering up any useful information on the place and setting up shop somewhere here in town until backup arrives.” He calmed down as he finished his small speech and drained his mug, Yavier looked determined to continue arguing but clearly could not think of anything to counteract Giles’s point.

 

“Fine, but we should at least scout out the manor. Get a good read on the place and map it out, then when they get here we can get going and get those stones fast. I’m going to get another pint, you want one?”

 

“Yeah, same dark brew as before.” Giles replies handing over his mug, “I need to take a piss, i’m going out to the alley.” Almeric wished he was equipped to take the man out, but he brought nothing into town with him. Almeric decided it was time to leave, he didn’t want the strange man to come across Letha waiting in the alley for him. Giles was already pushing his way through the fast moving crowd, Almeric had to act fast. Getting up swiftly and quietly he flew over to the stairs he came down, Giles was making his way out the front door and Almeric was going to go out the way he came. He took the stairs two at a time bounding up and around the balcony towards the room he had entered in, he swung the door open fast. The room was still empty and the window still ajar, almeric ran at the window and nearly dove out barely catching his footing on the unstable stack of crates below. They wobbled and Almeric suspected a collapse, he took the opportunity to jump off the stack onto the cold snow covered stone road below. The stack fell and came crashing to the ground startling Letha awake in her nook and causing a tremor of excitement through the Burrowed Bear.

 

“Letha! We gotta get gone fast!” Almeric started to sprint down the alley and letha came running up to him, bridging the gap in a split second. They ran out the alley and into the deserted wintery streets of Sprucepost, not stopping until they reached the north gate past the residential district. Almeric didn’t want to open the gate, it would cause too much noise and for all he knew they were being chased down. Almeric flung himself onto the nearby ladder leading up the gate wheel above, when he reached the small wooden platform he scanned around for a something they could use. He noticed a small woven rope on the underside of a shelf, Almeric grabbed it and tugged down hoping something would happen, the sound of wooden planks shifting and then falling. Letha growled below, Almeric flew down the ladder to see what it was, a small door shape had fallen out of the side of the wall to their right. 

 

“A stroke of luck girl.” He kneat over and scratched behind her ear before they darted off down the road, the hand cart held steady with the swift pace of their sprint. They didn’t stop running until Almeric gasped for breath, Letha was panting heavily but she could have kept going like that for another three hours.

 

“Lethy we need to get home. Now.” Almeric said through his heavy breathes, he reached for his waterskin at his side and drank what was left. Letha understood more than a mere companion should have, she started a small trot down the road. Almeric took a couple deep breaths before stealing himself for the journey before them, then jogged up to his Growlithes side.

 

 


	16. And Into the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thaedres is in quite the bind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fair warning, this chapter was hard to write

Thaedres

23rd of Delroth

And Into the Fire

 

Thaedres brushed the hair out of Hayleta’s face and over her slightly small ears, her naked form and his squeezed together. They lie in post orgasm bliss, holding each other close and listening to the sound of the waves. Hayleta held her cheek with one hand and had the other on Thaedres’s muscular hip gripping and rubbing it sensually. Thaedres held his head up with one hand and grabbed Hayleta’s round pale ass with the other, he squeezed it firmly enjoying it’s toned muscularity. Hayleta was in a sleepy state of bliss clearly tired from their night of violence and passion, Thaedres kept his eyes open despite the slight sting coming from behind his eyelids, he could not help but stare at her. She was sheer perfection, Thaedres had already known she was one of a kind and that she was meant to be in his life. But he now knew that he would give his life for her, and by extension her family and her people. Hayleta opened her bright green eyes that shimmered like a sea of nature and smiled at him, 

 

“Stop staring at me,” she giggled at him and shook him by the thigh.

“But how can i? When i’m presented with the most beautiful sight in the know world, how could you dare ask this of me?” Thaedres spoke with mock enthusiasm forcing her to laugh for a while longer, she then grabbed him and pulled him in close. His muscled and scarred chest pressed against the soft skin of her petite breasts, blood rushed into his manhood down below and it slowly stood to attention. Hayleta could clearly feel it on thigh and blushed,

“Again? Have you no limit to your boundless sea of stamina?” she pulled her head away from his to look at him and smile coyly,

 

“Ah but could you blame me? You’ve thrusted me into the world lust and awoken a sleeping beast inside. And he is yours to tame.” Thaedres stroked her cheek with took fingers before pulling her into a passionate kiss.

“GET UP MAGGOT.” Thaedres was shocked out of his dream with the sharp familiar sting of a multi tailed whip striking him across his exposed back, seconds later blood started to trickle down as it had done so many times before. He managed to stumble onto his knees, before the whip hit him again this time across the chest. He fell back to the cold metal floor curling up into a feedle position and crying out in pain. The voice wasn’t Akiva, Thaedres thought thankfully, otherwise the pain to come would be much worse. She seemed to get a sick pleasure from tearing into his skin, and bruising him like he was a burlap dummy on the training grounds. It was probably the man who brought him his morning slop and cup of water, the door of the cage swung open and a tray dropped in front of him. The bag was torn off from over his head and the nearly pitch black room was revealed to him along with the bowl of lump gray mush and small cup of water. 

 

“Eat up pretty boy,” the man laughed maniacally, “Gonna have to stop calling you that here in a few days, you ain’t looking so pretty anymore are ya elf?” The sailor walked away to the edge of the cage and pulled a pipe from his belt, Thaedres bent over and put his face into the bowl beginning to eat with as much dignity as he could. They never untied his hands, and meal time was no exception. When he finished with his bowl of flavorless grap sludge the sound of boots clanging on metal came slowly towards him, he heard the sounds of his cup of water being lifted off the metal tray in front of him. 

 

“Make sure you get your water.” He poured the water down onto Thaedres’s face, Thaedres managed to get a solid mouthful before coughing and falling back to the floor. “We were told you were great, that you were some living god with a sword. Look at you, you’re nothing.” He snorted loud before spitting on Thaedres. Lying on the floor the familiar clang of boots on metal sounded out again and then slowly got softer as the man walked away. Thaedres got up onto his feet and walked over to the metal wall behind him, brushing up against it wipe to warm spit off of his face. Humiliation did not even begin to scratch the surface of what he was feeling, his mind kept flashing back to that scene outside of Greenwood. That damned saboteur who nicked him in the shin. He didn’t even make an impact in the fight, Thaedres sighed and sobbed with cold hate and leaned his forehead against the metal wall, he would never live down that defeat. His mind swirled into despair as horrible images and thoughts poured into his head like murky river, the muscles in his legs felt weak. He started to crumple back down to the floor, crushing a dusty skull below. Thaedres lie hopeless and alone crying in the dark his mind still ablaze with the utmost of awful. Soon the dark overtook him and he fell back to sleep after almost a while of coping with the cold iron floor.

 

Wind whipped through his hair, his green gold and silver sword clutched in his hand, and Thaedres felt the rush of adrenaline as his target got closer and closer. His other hand clutched at the orange and black fur of the Arcanine he road, he looked over to his and right and saw Anaklees holding a notched arrow aiming his bow high up at the wall beyond. He whipped his head over to the left to see a man Thaedres did not recognize, he was tall and from the north with broad facial feature and a square jaw. His hair was hidden short and black with intense curls and he squinted firmly holding a large round shield and a spear in his other hand. Just the three of them charged at the Galavadren fort through the cold dusk of evening, their Arcanine tearing across the grass fields like a wind stoked fire.

 

He was forced awake again by another painful blow this time to the back of his skull, 

 

“You love your sleep don’t you elf.” She was back. Akiva crouched low beside him and spoke softly in her oddly beautiful voice. “I guess that makes sense when i think of it, you are only but an adolescent at this age.” She laughed and a chill ran down Thaedres’s spine. She grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up into the air, “Maybe you sleep so much to escape the nightmare of captivity, with your pathetic little dreams, but you hear me elf. You will never escape.” Akiva threw thaedres across the room into the bars of his cage, he slammed against them hard before toppling down to the cold iron below. Thaedres coughed and gagged on the blood, snot and spit soaked cloth still stuff in his mouth. “I bet that doesn’t feel great does it, you probably are not used to pain and discomfort.” Thaedres coughed again desperately wanting to taunt back, for he was used to pain and discomfort. Thuusain training was brutal, and even more so for the prodigal son of Thaedren.

 

“Actually i have to admit i am not much used to it either, i was raised with dare say more privilege than you dear prince. I had all that i wanted and more during my childhood in the Iron coast, but it was never enough. No it was not my extensive combat training, or years of school that made me want take Galavadra from those old lazy tyrants.” Thaedres was a little lost now, what old tyrants? “No it was when i killed three of them as a child. I was only twelve when i killed them boy,” she stormed over to him from where she was standing and punched him in the gut. 

 

Thaedres vomited just as the force of her punch struck him, choking inside his gag. Akiva laughed for a few moments as she watched him writhe and struggle, the slicing sound of a knife being pulled from a sheath could be heard. She cut the gag off letting loose the gray refuse, Thaedres coughed loudly gagging on his empty stomach. His throat burned and his eyes watered, before he could ask she shoved the mouth of a waterskin up to his face,

 

“Here, drink. Can’t have you dying of thirst before i can sell you.” Thaedres put his lips up to it and drank and much as he could, washing away the burning sensation in his throat and bringing some small relief to his pain. It took all of his strength not to shout at her, to scream horrible bloody curses and anything he could to hurt her. But he restrained himself, he focused his mind on a blank ocean to calm himself and clear his mind of all bad thoughts. It was a more difficult tactic than sleeping it off but that was clearly not an option here, “We are nearing the southern shore of Idgyos, from there you and i will be parting ways, for now. So i need to make your last day count.” Suddenly Thaedres felt a blistering sharp pain in his side, he roared out furiously cursing in agony as she twisted the knife around inside him. He endured her torture as best he could but it was awful, he could barely breathe and he coughed up blood every few minutes or so. He felt as if death was near when Akiva suddenly left room in a hurry, light was beginning to fade in his eyes and he was quietly dealing with the fact that he would die here on this ship. 

 

When the footsteps of Akiva now joined by others came storming into the room, he felt his wounds close up and the firey pain inside slowly fade. Akiva must have brought in mages to heal him, so she could continue his suffering. Thaedres knew this would break some men and he felt panicking thoughts creeping up from the back of his mind, he focused hard stealing his mind and forcing himself to think of home. And of Hayleta. 

 

“Huh, you are something special Thaedres. When most feel themselves come back from the brink of death like that, they panic, they worry,” She laughed hard and cold. “They shit themselves. But look at you. Staying strong in the face of death like seasoned warrior on the field of his hundredth battle. I’d almost admire you, if i didn’t know where you were going. Not easy to admire someone on their way to imprisonment, and especially someone on their way to the Dregvosh.” A lump formed in Thaedres’s throat, he had heard that name before but was blanking on it due to massive stress of almost dying. Something Anaklees had said to him when he was a child, something that frightened Thaedres deeply. Thaedres was snapped out of his memories from the distinctive sound of Akiva cracking her knuckles, he knew that the pain would soon return.

 

“My men tell we are not far from the shore, the winds are on your side this day elf. So this will be our last time together for a while, when i made this deal with Warden Kaysth i made sure that i would get time to visit you.” Dread poured into his mind like a toxic rain, but he made sure not to let it show. Out of nowhere Akiva was above him, she kicked him in the chest hard with her metal boot. Thaedres couldn't breathe for a few moments, he gasped and writhed. He felt another hard kick, this time on his back. He reared back on the floor arching back hard, the stretch out of nowhere caused the pain in his stomach to flare up in intensity. The beating continued for a while and everytime Thaedres felt a crack or a break or one of his organs rupturing the mages would fully restore him. 

 

Thaedres had to keep his mind occupied, he would not let himself fall fate to the insanity that tourte oft brings. Images of Halyeta spread through his mind like beautiful wildfire, he thought of what the two of them could do with each other. They would sail to all corners of this world and see all sights that could be seen, they would go to exotic villages and taste wonderous new things. The pain was horrible, Akiva struck him with vicious bone crunching blows and swift terrible kicks. After awhile she clearly got tired, Thaedres could hear her panting and the small sound of her beads of sweat falling to the floor. She wasn’t invincible, he was sure of that. 

 

Akiva snapped twice and Thaedres heard the shuffling of feet across the metal floor, blood dripped from his face and every inch of him burned and seared like it was being freshly whipped. Minutes later the footsteps returned to the dank room, Thaedres heard Akiva take something from them. Akiva strode over to where he was huddled on the ground, despite his tatic of mental discipline he could still feel the gut splitting pain. Thaedres heard chains drop and he redoubled his efforts of mental fortification, suddenly he felt the worst pain yet tearing into his skin. Small metal barbs on the outside rings of small chain links pierced his flesh as it hit, before they tore out. The healers in the room restored his wounds after each strike, making each one ten times worse than then last. Thaedres’s mind was like a steel trap, not letting in any the flow of bad thoughts that crashed up against his mind  like a tsunami. Eventually a horn blared out from the deck of the monstrous metal ship, Akiva dropped the thing in hand and the healers began to cast their spell again.

 

“Stop, that last one won't kill him. Let him scar.” She spun around fast and stormed out of the room, Thaedres felt a small twinge of defeat in her voice. She wanted Thaedres to break, but he held strong. The other men took a few moments before leaving the room, making sure to grab the chained tourte tool she was using. The ship was slowing down, the waters getting shallower and shallower. Thaedres knew not where they were, he had lost track of the days a while ago so he didn’t even know how long they were at sea. Another thirty minutes went by of Thaedres’s shoulder burning and throbbing before men came in to clean and bandage it. After they fixed his wounds more men walked into the room, they tied him up like he had been when the Galavadren’s brought him onto this ship. They hoisted him up and walked out of his cage into the large echoing room, the sound of their footsteps ringing out all around him. 

 

Up the stairs and out onto the deck of the ship, Thaedres felt the heat immediately. He was used to warm weather living in Opiath, Uvara had her spell over the wastes making them cool and hospitable, but the heat here was drier. The air was hot and dry, the small breathes Thaedres could take through his exposed nose were uncomfortable and made him felt even more captive. The men who held him walked across the deck and then down a slight ramp, he bobbed up and down with their steps. Seconds later we was loaded onto a cart,

  
“A’right countess he’s all loaded up and ready to go.” Someone next to him shouted and he could hear the distinct sound of someone slapping the ass of a horse. The cart rattled forward and the clopping of hooves sounded out, Thaedres wondered if Akiva would be accompanying him to the prison to oversee the sale. Thaedres heard nothing but the soft whistle of the wind as they rolled along, the pace was slow and his pain was agonizing but Thaedres could bare it all, by thinking of Hayleta.        


	17. A sea of Green and Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hayleta and Varana discuss some things with The good Captain. Maybe things get heated?

Hayleta

23rd of Delroth

A Sea of Gold and Green

 

The week and half leading up to the arrival of the rest of the Thuusain fleet was probably the most interesting time of hayleta’s life. When Hayleta met Thaedres, it was like meeting an entirely new type of person, talking to him was ever more and more interesting and she thought she would never tire of it. But meeting Varana was something completely different. She was so wise and seemingly ancient but with an indomitable youthful spirit, many nights the two of them talked from the crimson gold glow of the sunsetting until the bright blue of the pre morning dawn. Hayleta asked about veritably every aspect of Varana’s life that she could remember, before her imprisonment in the sphere of ice. At first Varana wanted to talk about nothing but their current circumstances. Hayleta convinced her that it was best to wait for most of the details until they could meet with Anaklees, Varana agreed with this due to the trust she had in Uvara and in her captain. 

 

In the meantime the two of them talked about many things, but none more than magic. Every morning Hayleta would wake up to the smell of frying eggs or roasting fish that the marines had caught, Varnana was always already up usually swimming in the cold of the morning ocean. Hayleta loved to sit on the rocks to watch the majesty of her movements, often times after leaping from the water Varana’s wings would burst forth from their folded swimming position and she would soar into the air before diving back into the water. When Varana would finish her swim she would slowly circle her way back down to the sand from high up, then she and Hayleta would spend their days talking.

 

The eleventh morning when Varana was floating down from her morning swim she shouted loud and joisceley from high up in the air. 

 

“Hayleta, there are ships on the horizon!” She flew down faster than the other mornings clearly excited, she hurried up to the rock Hayleta sat upon eating her breakfast.

 

“Are they green? Or are we fucked?” Hayleta said with a half mouth full of eggs and sausage, Varana laughed covering her mouth with her hands.

 

“They are green. I’m so ready to see what little Anaklees has grown up to be.”  Varana spoke with gitty enthusiasm

 

“Little Anaklees? Why does everyone seem to have their own name for him?” Hayleta finished the last of her food, and downed a conjured crystal goblet of icy water. “Captain Anaklees, Little Anaklees, The good captain, gods be damned.”

 

“Oh it’s not a name for him, the last time i saw Captain Anaklees was when he was just a child. Not eights years old.” She smiled wide and turned towards the sea where the rest of their less than impressive fleet was coming from.

 

“Oh, that’s actually sort of sweet. What was he like as a child? I’ve only briefly known him as a Captain and a ridiculously good archer.” Hayleta jumped down from the craggy brown rock and stretched before looking towards the same direction.

 

“He was as wide eyed as they come, ready for everything the world had to offer him. I’ll be glad to know what all this time has done to him, even if i still don’t quite know how much time that is.” A few of the marines started to walk join them at the edge of the beach gazing out towards the wide mouthed opening of the straits.

 

“Huh, well without spoiling the surprise of your first meeting with him. I’m sure he’s been hardend since then.” Hayleta said half joking, but Varana took it as a fully developed jest and laughed herself silly.

 

“Well i’m sure of that as well my dear, you can’t have a reputation like he’s got without becoming an entirely new person, several times. From what these fine men and women said about him, he might as well be a demigod himself.” 

 

The Verdant Vengeance pulled by a red Gyarados peered it’s nose around the rock pillars of the straits, several of the marines started to whoop and cheer. Hayleta couldn’t help but feel their joy and heightened spirit at the sight of the Vengeance, not only because of its immense size, but because of the sight of the hundreds of sailors and marines working and waving over to the shore. After the full length of the Vengeance was in fully in view it the men aboard dropped anchor, followed closely behind was the Thuusains second ship, The Solar wind. It was a good deal smaller than the Vengeance but it was still a sizeable ship, a good hundred Thuusains manned it’s three masted hull. Hayleta looked from the two main ships and the back to the Emerald Arrow, it truly was just a scouting ship compared to their green and gold warships. Hayleta was now more glad than ever that they didn’t run into any trouble on their way to the straits, all though the more battles she was a part of the more she began to think Dravora was right in choosing her. 

 

“Captain any orders?” Gellevor said from a few yards behind Hayleta giving her a half scare.

 

“I, uh. Yes load up the men and supplies, and get the arrow ready, we can’t stay here long. I’m sure our Galavadren friends are most certainly gearing up for revenge.” She snapped twice and the crowd of onlookers broke into a hustling troop of workers. 

 

“You don’t seem like much of the command type young witch,” Varana took a few steps closer to her and looked deep into Hayleta’s green eye with her own pair of dazzling stormy blues.

 

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re gaze is both intimidating and enticing. And you’re right, Anaklees put me in charge of the Arrow and all of the marines aboard it, but it’s my first time in command of anything.” Varana smiled and stifled a little laugh,

 

“Not in those exact words but yes i have heard something like that, you have their respect more than you think you do Hayleta. They have told me much about what you’ve done on and off the battlefield, Dravora clearly chose well.” She smiled again closing her eyes and setting her soft dark skinned hand on Hayleta’s armored shoulder, she and her men had treated every day like they were due to be attacked.

 

“Th.. thank you Varana. That was unexpected if i’m being honest, i would have thought that you were going to offer advice or something else along the lines of saying i'm not so great at leading people.” Hayleta said, she found it hard to dance around ideas with the demi-goddess.

 

“I like to keep people on their toes, i suspect there is something plaguing the back of your mind. Something personal.” She looked even more intrigued than before, almost to the point of minor madness.

 

“Uh, yes there is. How did you know? Can you hear my thoughts such as Dravora can?” Hayleta was taken aback by her forward and bold attitude but continued on with telling her the truth nonetheless.

 

“No i cannot hear your thoughts dear, but if you wish to talk to someone about any personal matter i’m the girl to talk to. I adore discussing matters of the heart and even beyond.” her smile widened and became almost sinister, “Nothing makes my heart sing like the thought of discussing your intimacies or thoughts there of.” Hayleta gasped and covered her mouth attempting to not draw any unwanted attention for the marines working on the ship and beach.

 

“Why, uh, what, uh i don’t.” Hayleta began to stutter a little, she was not used to talking about these things at all. There was an enormous stigma in Zein about recreational bodily pleasure, she was only given a very brief overview by her mother when she was seventeen. 

 

“Hayleta, you have no reason to be nervous. I know much about sex and love, anything you need to say or ask just come to me. And do it whenever you are comfortable, but i have to admit that i could sense you have been thinking about someone, maybe even pining after them?” Varana could not help but smile at Hayleta like a child staring at a fresh tray of pastries. But Varana was right, she had never had sensual dreams and feelings until meeting Thaedres. She tried to suppress them when them came, but often times she desperately wanted to slip into the void of these thoughts and let her mind wander in all the pleasure filled potential.

 

“How did you know?” she said after an embarrassing pause.

 

“It’s the small pauses in your speech, the look on your face when you are staring off into nothing. I’ve seen it dozens and dozens of times young witch, and it’s no different in you.” She turned to look away from Hayleta, and towards the men who had nearly completed their loading and preparing of the Arrow.

 

“Well, i suppose we should discuss it further then. Not now of course, we are going to be meeting with Anaklees right away i’m sure he’ll want to talk to you immediately.” Hayleta looked towards the ship as well, she spotted Gellevor jogging over to them.

 

“We’re all set Captain.” He said to Hayleta before making eye contact with Varana and dropping his jaw for a few moments. Hayleta started forward across the sand towards the ship, Varana and Gellevor followed after a beat.

 

“Good, ready a raft for Varana and I, we’re going to the Vengeance for a meeting with Anaklees oh and tell Era she’s coming with us. Commendations are in order, she fought with inspired grace in the jungle.” Hayleta had known she would do this for awhile and she was hopeful that Anaklees would approve of this.

 

“Aye ma’am.” Gellevor sprinted ahead towards the ran leading up to the ship, Varana and Hayleta walked at a hustled pace. As curious and happy as she was, Hayleta was certain that the Demigod was still dying to know how all of this came to be.

“Tell me Hayleta, is Anaklees attractive?” Varana again spoke boldly this time without smiling or looking towards her.

“Yes. I mean uh, yeah sort of. Why do you ask?” Hayleta didn’t mean to have her answer so ready, all thought it was hard to deny that Anaklees was a beautiful man.

 

“Are the other pokemon on board the Vengeance?” 

 

“I think so, some of them may be aboard the Solar Wind however.” The reached where the camp had been, it was now devoid of any trace of their arrival. The men were boarding the ship and were waiting for them. They started up the ramp onto the deck.

 

“What all do the Thuusains have with them?” Her voice was full of curiosity, the men lifted the ramp up and stowed it away on the side.

 

“Well i’ve only met a few, there's Swiftfoot the Sceptile and Darkhand the Gengar and Grayskull the Marowak, Willow the Venusaur, Radrook the Flygon, and then a few i haven’t met yet. A zangoose, a Scizor, A swampert, three Arcanine,  and a Milotic. Oh, and the Gyarados pulling the Vengeance.” Hayleta leaned with her crossed arms on the railing as she listed them off, she then made a note to meet and learn the names of the other pokemon.

 

“Is that all?” She sounded a bit shocked at this,

 

“Well when we were at Greenwood Liadra had leagues of small grass pokemon following her around like little squads. But we haven’t heard from her since the battle.” A hearty moment of silence followed her words, Hayleta hadn’t spent much time thinking about Uvara or Liadra. They both survived the fight but she wasn’t sure if either of them were safe. The men had raised anchor and the boat sailed towards the other two across the water, Era approached them from behind.

 

“Captain,” she nodded to Hayleta, “Varana,” she bowed deep to the demi-goddess. “Gellevor told me that i was to be commended for my actions on the battlefield, i wanted to thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome Era, you gave good name to the Thuusains in that jungle. I saw you fight off three to one odds a few times, not to mention what the men told me about the dozen or so you took out before i showed up.” Hayleta turned around to face the woman, she was a good four inches taller than Hayleta and a good deal bulkier. She had a thick waist and even thicker more muscular thighs, her sandy blonde hair was cut short and tied back at the top of her head. Hayleta had noticed her good looks before but the glow of the sun caught her well and she looked even better than before.

 

“You honor me Captain, i hope to live up to your gracious words.” She kneeled down low bowing her head and placing her arm across her knee.

 

“Ahh get up, save the formalities for Captain Anaklees.” Hayleta said to the delight of Varana, Era stood up looking blushing slightly.

 

“Era i hope to have the pleasure to fight alongside you on the field of battle, from what Hayleta describes you are quite the warrior.” Varana spoke kindly to her, looking intently into Era’s almond brown eyes. Era got flustered and her cheeks became as red as tomatoes, she stuttered and stammered trying to get a word out but failing. Hayleta started to laugh, and soon Varana joined. The Emerald arrow neared the other two ships while the spoke and laughed with each other, Gellevor shouted from the other side of the ship. 

 

“Raft’s ready cap’n.” The three of them turned to look and then walk to the small dark brown wooden raft hanging over the edge. Hayleta had the familiar thought that she could get there much faster with a quick blink but didn’t mind for the sake of Era. They stepped in and sat down, Gellevor lowered the raft with a pulley rope mekanism and lew slowly sank to the the water. Once the hit Era unhooked the ropes and began to paddle with two oars, but Hayleta had a better idea.

 

“Era please let me.” Hayleta swirled her staff, the waves around their small ship swelled before propelling them forward at enhanced speed. ‘

“Thank you cap’n, not a magic user and all, so you know i don’t think of these things.” Era said putting the oars down, Hayleta thought she noticed the warrior focusing hard not to look at Varana. They reached the vengeance in no time at all, the marines above tossed down a rope ladder that rolled out as it fell.

 

“Huh,” Varana said looking it, she unfolded her white feathery wings and flew up the height of the hull and onto the deck. Era turned to look at Hayleta with a “Don’t make me go up alone” look.

 

“Get going.” Hayleta said smiling. Era made her way up the ladder fast, taking big steps up. Hayleta followed closely behind. When the reached the top Varana was being ogled by dozens of surrounding warriors clad in their green steel armor. Among them was Anaklees staring utterly dumbfounded at her beauty, she stared back at him with a wide honest smile.

 

“Hello Captain Anaklees, do you remember me?” She said stepping forward softly, her wings dropping back into their folded position.

 

“Of course i remember you Varana, it has been a very long time but i knew i would remember that face for all time.” Captain Anaklees stepped forward also, sticking his arm out for an embrace. Varana ignored this and hugged him firmly, the good captain hugged her back. All around the Emerald clad marines stared at the pair of them as green with envy as their armor, even Hayleta was a bit jealous. “Varana i’m afraid we have not much time,” He snapped twice and the men and women around broke into work, “Come, let’s continue this reunion in my cabin.” They walked the long walk across the length of the Vengeance, turning dozens of heads as they passed. The wooden door to Anaklees’s cabin was ajar and voices could be heard from the inside, Hayleta pushed the door open and strode in followed by Varana and Anaklees. Inside Ov’leil, Raeth, and Aleia stood over a map discussing and pointing fervently. When they looked up from the large parchment and first saw Hayleta each of them grimaced and scowled worse than the last. But once they saw the majestic sight of Varana all three of robbed mages dropped their jaws in awe of her sight, Anaklees closed the door behind him and suddenly his quarters felt much more cramped than they ever had been.

 

“Ov’leil, Raeth, Aleia, i’d like you to meet Varana.” Anaklees said looking back and forth from Varana to the three mages behind his desk, she smiled at them before speaking.

 

“Hello there! It’s wonderful to meet you all.” Varana stepped forward as she spoke looking friendly and warm. Hayleta almost felt a tinge a jealousy swelling up inside her, she and Varana had become close since they met, not to mention the utter contempt and loathing Ov’leil and her mages had for Hayleta. 

 

“Who.. who are you?” Ov’leil’s accent was now starting to annoy Hayleta rather than before when she thought it was a bit endearing. “You surely could not be the real Demi-goddess…. Could you?” 

 

“I could, and i am. I’m glad you all know who i am, there is no need to explain things that need not be said.” Varana’s tone became commanding and firm, “Hayleta you said once we meet with Anaklees we would discuss what’s happened. Where is Uvara, why are the Thuusains away from Opiath and the Uskaeir Forest, why was i frozen for what i’ve gathered to be more than seven hundred years?! Where is Articuno!!” Everyone in the cabin was shocked at her outburst of emotion, the swirling aura of frost around her feet grew with her rising voice.

 

“Varana, i will answer each of your questions and more.” Anaklees stepped towards her but dare not touch. “Please, why don’t we all take a seat. I’ll tell the men to get the ships going and then we will tell you everything and anything you need and want to know.” Hayleta was impressed with the way he spoke to the demi-goddess, Varana seemed to accept his words with only a bit of reluctance.

 

“Very well  _ Captain. _ ” Varana said waving him off, Hayleta was not used to this side of her. Anaklees opened the door to his cabin, darted out, and began shouting orders at the men. Seconds later the Vengeance slowly drifted forward through the wide mouth of the Ithari Straits. Captain Anaklees was back inside in a flash and closed the door.

 

“Alright, Ov’leil could you summon us some chairs?” she nodded and snapped, they all sat down in brown wooden stools opposite from a much larger and ornate stool clearly meant for the demi-goddess. Hayleta rolled her eyes as she sat, never imaging Ov’leil as one to kiss anyone's ass. Varana sat down still looking annoyed.

 

“What would you like answered first?” Anaklees said firmly.

 

“Where is Articuno?” Varana said equally firmly flicking her wrist around to summon a blue crystal goblet of turquoise blue liquid.

 

“We don’t know, we didn’t even know you were here. All of the demi-gods and goddesses and their pokemon were locked away, out of time in unique prisons seven hundred and fifty one years ago.” Varana sipped her drinked in deep thought, Hayleta couldn't help but think and wonder about what that could taste like.

 

“Why did this happen. Was Uvara also imprisoned?” This time Ov’leil chimed in before Anaklees could.

 

“She was and she wasn’t, Uvara saw the Obliteration coming before it reached Opiath. She locked herself inside an enchanted tree, the tree that then became the Uvaka tree. Uvara was protected from the Obliteration and from the magic that imprisoned all the legendaries and their demi-gods and goddesses.” Ov’leil could barely meet Varana’s eyes as she spoke, clearly Uvara had spoken highly of the demi-goddess. 

 

“I see. That does feel like Uvara. Why have the Thuusains left Opiath? Has something happened to Greenwood?” Varana drained her goblet after her question then flicked the glass filling it back up again.

 

“I can answer that one, seeing as i was in the party that lead to it all.” Hayleta chimed up catching the attention of the demi-goddess. “The Galavadren’s attacked the Verdant wastes, they ambushed me and my party of other diplomats and warriors before they launched their full scale assault on the town and keep. The Thuusains as i’m sure we would all expect were savagely winning the battle, but not before long Akiva and Kuvosh showed up and sometime after they joined the fight… well, Groudon awoke. We did what we could for an hour or so but we couldn't fight forever.” Varana’s eyes narrowed and her expression hardened, as she opened her mouth Hayleta notice gritted pearly white teeth.

 

“You said Kuvosh? And Groudon? Who is this Akiva person and what does she have to do with anything?” Varana talked with malice in her voice. Hayleta and Anaklees looked at each other for a moment, neither of them really knowing what to say. 

 

“She is the driving force behind it all,” Anaklees said with a hint of anger. “She’s taken control of the entire country and anointed herself Grand Countess. It’s clear to me now why she struck first at us, Groudon’s prison was in the Wastes not a hundred yards from our walls. Uvara was going to use this to subdue the great beast but now, now he has awoken prematurely. Worst of all the Galavadren’s have the resources and engineering to build a ship large enough for him, and they have already began building the damn thing by now.” 

 

“Anaklees, you i and both know what Groudon is capable of. What is our plan?” Varana stood from her chair and whisked away her goblet, she stared out the window at the waves washing across the rocks around them. They were starting to get shorter, thinner and farther between as the three ships sped through the waterway.

 

“Our plan for now is simply to followed the direction from Dravora that Hayleta is receiving. We are on our way to an abandoned fortress along the northwest coast of Idygos. Along the way i’m going to save Thaedres from the Dregvosh.” Captain Anaklees strode over to his desk and rummaged around in one of the drawers for his stash of Vav weed and a pipe.

 

“Who is Thaedres?” Varana’s anger subsided due to curiosity. 

 

“Thaedres’s is the son of our late lord Thaedren.” Silence washed over the room, and even with the door being closed the same sadness washed over the crew of the Vengeance. Varana eventually broke the silence.

 

“He died? The green Arcanus has been slain? These truly are dark days. Hayleta what is the name of this abandoned fortress we’re on our way too?” Hayleta was shocked at how fast the emotion behind her tone shifted, she was sadder than Hayleta thought herself was. She had not known Thaedren for very long but still felt a twinge of guilt nonetheless.

 

“Dravora said it was called Nandoshi, it’s in the mountains somewhere i think. I’d rather she explained it herself but she can only communicate with me outside the loop of time.” Ov’leil scoffed and rolled her eyes, “You got something to say baldy?” Hayleta shouted back, she was getting tired of this lady constantly undermining her. Ov’leil laughed and turned to look at both Raeth and Aleia causing them to join in on the laughter.

 

“Oh poor girl, thinks calling me bald is some sort of insult. As if i wasn’t more beautiful that she could ever hope to be, ratty little pale faced westerner.” Their laughter grew alongside an anger within Hayleta, she had to take a few breaths to calm herself down but Anaklees broke their laughter. 

 

“Enough, all of you, dammit just ignore each other.”

 

“I Know the Nandoshi, great battles have been won and lost there over the years but it was abandoned a long time ago. Not long before you were born Anaklees.” Varana nodded to him. “I approve of this plan, how long is our course?” 

 

“Nearly another month of sailing from here, It’s quite far north.” The good captain was taking long deep breaths of his Vav weed out of his carved wooden pipe.

 

“That it is, do we have furs and what not for the wintery climate?” 

 

“Not so much, we have some but not nearly enough for us all, however hunting will be no issues for Igis and i.” 

 

“Who is Ig-

 

“Igis is my Arcanine.” Anakless interrupted but Hayleta could tell Varana appreciated it rather than got offended. “And as far as warmth we’ll figure it out, we didn’t really have time to dally as we were fleeing for our damned lives.” He emptied the ashes from his pipe and loaded it again.

 

“You may be overestimating yourselves here Captain, you yourself may be able to stand the cold but not all of your warriors could deal with it like you can. We’ll need to send a convoy into town somewhere and get whatever furs we can, whatever way we can. Nandoshi In the Mountain is an incredibly safe stronghold, Articuno and i once hid there while in recovery from battle.. With Kuvosh.” All of the faces in the captain’s quarters were already locked in on Varana’s beautiful face, but they all seemed to refocus after hearing this. “You’re right to look shocked, he and Entei nearly killed us. Kuvosh is the most vicious of the Voshunds, if he and Entei reunite soon there is no telling what they could do.” Hayleta’s anxiety grew with the demi-goddess’s words, she had already known that they were not in a good position but this news was more than troubling.

 

“If Akiva is smart, and i’m sure that she is, she will be recruiting allies and cutting off parts of the world for us, luckily i foresaw something coming and and sent a few letters out to some old allies, they will have arrived by now and we should be hearing back from them soon.” Anaklees stood from where he was leaning against a windowsill.

 

“Who did you write too? I thought Zien was the only ally of the Thuusains still in contact?” Hayleta said, this was the impression she got as when her party of diplomats left the capital.

 

“Still in contact is not exactly how i’d put it, but the Zienen have stayed more in touch than those i contacted. I wrote letters to King Keldor Thorell in Equai’Drell, and a letter was sent to The Chal, and the last one was sent to the Medgeruk. So far i’ve heard nothing back from them but it’s not been long enough to ditter me.” 

 

“Were you going to tell us about your secret letters Captain?” Ov’leil seemed weirdly offended at his words.

 

“Of course i was, but i also knew that building up our hopes only to have them be shattered would devastate us.” Hayleta was glad to see that shut her up. They all sat in silence for a few minutes, the sound of the waves crashing against the ship filled the air with sense of something to come.

 

“Captain, where are we going to make anchor? Nandoshi is not along the coast, it’s miles away in fact.” Varana asked, breaking the tense silence with her serene voice.

 

“I know of a small cove along the coast, when i poured over the maps after learning of the Nandoshi i remembered a journey i took to Tian'Jao With Judgio back in the day. We had to hide the Arrow in the cove for two weeks, i found this little goat path but never explored it. I’m sure it will lead us somewhere.” Everyone gave him skeptical looks after hearing his half hearted plan. “What? It’s the best we can do for now, usually Thaedren or Uvara would make these decisions. I’m more of a fighter and leader on the battlefield than behind this damned desk.”

 

“Forgive us, but what if this goat path leads to somewhere less than helpful.” Hayleta said firmly

 

“Then we cross that bridge when we come to it, we don’t have time to dally over plans, we have to survive.” He took a long draw of his pipe before exhaling a thick cloud of white smoke. Silence fell over them again. The only sound that could be heard was the faint noises of Anaklees emptying and reloading his pipe and the sound of the marines working on the ship.

 

“You’re right Anaklees our survival was the only thing for us to worry about when our demise was intimate, but now is the time for careful planning. We need to make every move as carefully as we can, this cove you found is perfect for us and we can and will try this goat path. But i’m not sure all of us need to, I suggest Raeth and I scout this while we wait for you and Thaedres. But how will you get from the Demon’s sand to the Nandoshi? There is half a damn continent between them.” Aleia spoke with a calming sage-like tone as she look firmly into Anaklees’s eyes. Hayleta hadn’t heard much from Aleia at all before this.

 

“I’ve already thought of that as well, i’ll be taking Igis and Veleizi with me. They are more than capable of finding their own food and staying hidden while i rescue my protege, then the four of us will ride our way back to the Nandoshi.”

 

“I still don’t see why you have to go alone Nath, I could easily accompany you and provide any magical assistance you would need.” Ov’leil said as she crossed her arms and refused to meet the Captain’s eye, a bit of anger rose from Hayleta’s chest thinking that Ov’leil just wanted to be there for Thaedres first.

 

“I’m doing this alone Ov’leil, I can weave my way out of any situation with the little magic i possess. What i need from all of you, is to make sure with every last possible scrutiny, that you make it to the Nandoshi, and its surrounding lands safe. We have no idea how bad it will have been for Thaedres, he may need a while to recover, and the Galavadren’s will not be happy once they learn he has escaped. The Noyushians may not be too happy with it either and we have no idea where their allegiance will lie, we don’t even know who in the world knows about the attack yet, or about Groudon’s wake.” Captain Nath Anaklees spoke quickly and strode around the room towards the end of his short speech.

 

“Fine go alone and die to a random rock slide see if i care, and what do you mean surrounding lands and why do you keep calling it The Nandoshi? What’s with the “ _ the” _ .”

Ov’leil’s tone was still harsh but now she met the Captain’s eye’s with her own, narrowed with an annoyed expression.

 

“Actually when Dravora told me about the fortress she called it Nandoshi in The Mountain, and the she referred to it as The Nandoshi.” Hayleta chimed in smugly intending to irritate Ov’leil.

 

“She’s exactly right, i had to dig pretty deep into our books to find any information on the fortress. I was pretty lucky we had one of those tomes. But when i did all of the records referred to it as The Nandoshi or Nandoshi in the Mountain." Anaklees snapped and pointed to Hayleta just before he spoke, it was truly reassuring from such a respected figure. Ov’leil didn’t have anything to say so she just scoffed in response.

 

“Well i am fresh out of questions, and have much i’d like to discuss with Hayleta as far as some magic for our defenses. Thank you captain Anaklees. You and I should speak again before you depart.” Varana made intense eye contact with Hayleta, clearly holding something back. Hayleta stood up and walked to the door to stand next to the tall angelic figure.

 

“Captain if we don’t have a chance to speak again, good luck. Please bring Thaedres back safe, I know he will want to see me again.” Hayleta flicked her neck over a minuscule amount to smirk at Ov’leil then she and Varana strode out of the cabin and into the noise of the still saddened Vengeance's deck. They walked a good ways away before Varana hooked her arm around Hayleta’s leaned in.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Varana spoke with intense enthusiasm but in low hushed tones.

 

“I uh, tell you about what?” Hayleta was confused, they had just discussed so many things in that meeting she had no idea what Varana could be referring to.

“About the scandal! You, the young prince, the foreign mage wrought with jealousy. My dear this is a story we must discuss over wine. Wine and cheese.” They sped across the deck, arms locked and leaning in close.  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	18. Destiny Doesn't Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation of The Burrowed Bear.

Almeric

20th of Delroth

Destiny Doesn’t Wait 

 

Almeric’s heart pounded, the two of them sprinted through the snow faster than they had ever ran before. Towards the dim glow of Stoneguards Castle. His breaths weazed out of him scratching his throat as they escaped, Letha was clearly feeling the pain of their sprint just as hard as he was, the hand cart tied to her back still weighing her down. They were still about a mile out from the outer wall, the silver light of the moon casting down on them echoing the importance of their sprint. Finally they reached the precipice of the tall wooden gate, it was too late at night for anyone to be near enough to let him in.

“Shit” Almeric said aloud after several long loud breathes, visible from the frigid temperature. “Letha, remind me one day that we need to get the fuck away from this frozen nightmare.” She growled in approval through her own heavy breaths. They started to run the long way around to the side gate crunching through the thick snow, they arrived only to see the side gate was also closed. He now more than ever missed Evise’s taunting on his arrivals, he steeled himself before running towards the tree just a few feet beyond them. Almeric flew his way up the tree reaching a tall sturdy branch, he walked as far out on the branch as he could before the wobbling startled to unsettle him. He snapped a few branches off around him to clear some room before stepping back to the base truck of the tree, Almeric ran hard to the point of confidence on the tree, before leaping with all of the might he could muster towards the wall. The branch he jumped from was only a few feet higher than the wooden spiked tops, his shin caught slightly on on of the spikes and he crashed hard onto the wooden walkway of the wall. 

 

He clasped his hand to mouth to stifle a shout of pain and banged his fist on the ground a few times lying on while lying on his back. He looked at his hand that was gripping his bloody gash sighed a sigh of anger, fueling him to charge forward to the gate wheel. No one was going to steal from the Stoneguards, especially not those shit heads from the bar. The noise of the gate opening was louder than Almeric would have wanted. As soon as their was the tiniest opening in the gate Letha charged through towards the house. Almeric closed the gate hard before sprinting at his Growlithe nearing the manor, he and Letha ran over to a side door near the main hall and continued towards the spiral stairs caring not of the noise he was making now. As he neared the top floor a grumble roared out from above,

 

“Ahhhhhhh, who the hell is making all that noise!” His father Loric shouted with sleepy anger from his bedroom down the hall.

 

“DAD!!” Almeric shouted back sprinting towards the large wooden door, carved with a red trimmed etching of an Ursaring. His father started to laugh half manically before shouting again.

 

“You better have some good god damned reason for waking up the whole house like this!”

 

“I do I do!” he flung the door open and charged in panting, not realising till now he was half dead from exhaustion. Loric and Veyla looked more intrigued than anything else, seeing their son panting from clearly a long journey and hearing the trouble in his voice they remained quiet. “Dad, when i was in town for our supplies i overheard something.”

 

“You were dropping ease?” His father said regaining a bit of anger,

 

“No no, just listen. I was buying our Vreeth berries when i heard someone say our name in a hushed and hurried tone. Naturally Letha and I followed them across town until they entered the Burrowed Bear Pub.”

 

“Almeric you didn’t get thrown out of a pub did you?” His mother Veyla said with a disappointed tone.

 

“NO! Dammit just listen! I snuck around back seeing as i couldn't get in being underage, climbed up a stack of empty crates in the alley and jumped into an open window someone had pissed from.” the distinct voices of several of his sibling laughing from behind the slightly open door was heard, “I then made my way down into the pub and found the two men i was following sitting near a back corner. It was easy to remain unseen while i listened in on their conversation, and what i heard sent me and letha sprinting out of town and back here as fast as we damn could.” Almeric had to stop and catch his breath again still tired from his run.

 

“Well! Out with it boy what did you hear? What’s got you acting so mad and waking us up so late?” Loric said fiercely but with a truly inquisitive tone. 

 

“They said something about a war, The Seven Season War, something about Idygos and about their boss. They were apparently there early for a job, a job to steal something from our manor! They were going to steal a chest of  firestones from us and-” Almeric was cut off by his father jumping off the bead onto his feet and strapping in his boots and saying.

 

“You are positive they said firestones? Were you followed?”

 

“We ran as if we had been but i’m not sure, they did say they were to set up there in town and gather info, but one of them seemed anxious like he wanted to go before the backup arrived. But, when i left the pub i made, too much noise and may have alerted them.”  Almeric’s father was darting all around the room getting ready for what looked like battle. 

 

“Veyla my dear, take the young ones and go hide in the chamber behind the basement fireplace.” Veyla nodded to him and started to get ready with equal speed.

  
  


“Almeric, If they are not already awake i need you and Letha to wake everyone, your mother will get Dillion, Marcy, and the others two young to fight. Then i need you to go get Fatfang from his sleep, he will be furious but show his this and he will understand.” Almeric was more than stunned, at worst he thought that there were just common thieves after him, but that wouldn’t have worked up his father like this. Loric pulled out a large round metal shield from under his bed with a spear strapped to it and handed them to Almeric. “And while your at it go get Freatha and Gwelds.” Almeric stood there shocked for a second, before the shuffling of his surrounding family snapped him back into the fray. 

 

He and Letha shot out of his father’s large room and towards the stairs at the end of the hall. When he ran with this shield and spear in hand in fueled him with a fire that he had never felt before, he was running with true purpose. He banged metal on metal and whooped up a loud cry echoed by Letha’s howls. As he ran past the 3rd floor where his room was, he nearly crashed into Varrick running up the stairs in his own garb, sword and bow strapped neatly to his back. 

 

“Hey watch out!” he said avoiding Almeric and running up the stairs, followed closely behind by Bellona and her Electrike in her own battle ready gear.

 

“Sorry!” Almeric said without stopping on his was down, he flew past the last two floors of rooms, past the hustle of his massive families preparation. Ran through the main hall and out the lower gathering room, from there Almeric sprinted towards another staircase leading towards the large cellar and basement of their manor. The room where his father’s Ursaring slept in hibernation was deep down here in order to resemble a cave, Almeric had always been told that waking Fatfang during his long winter sleep would be a horrible idea but he had no choice. They needed the big guy. They ran past the kegs of ale and wine chilling along racks towards a corner leading farther into the underground. Almeric turned his head to look at Letha who was still strapped to the hand cart tied down with supplies.

 

“Holy shit Letha!” he jumped down to her side to unclip it and scratch her sweaty fur. “Why didn’t you say anything!” Letha turned her head at an angle while making a blank face at him before shaking her body fiercely. “You’re right, this is pretty crazy i’ll try to pay closer attention to you. Stay by my side no matter what happens.” She nodded to him, then in synch,  they sprinted further down the hall and around the corner. They reached another large chamber, this one much warmer and darker than the others. At the far side beyond all the crates and barrels and stone pillars there was a wooden door with the same red tinted carving as the one on his father’s door light by two torches. They ran over to the door and pulled it open letting loose the loud sound of a deep roaring breathes echoing through the silence. The massive white furred bear was huddled tight and breathing heavy, Fat fang was a good foot and half taller than the average Ursaring and a least a full foot thicker. His bulging muscled arms nearly covered his entire head while curled up, Almeric gulped loud not quite ready for what he was about to do. He took a deep breath in and held the spear and shield out in front of him clearly visible,

 

“HEY FATTY!” Almeric shouted as loud as he could straight at the gigantic sleeping bear pokemon. Fatfang’s eyes burst open and he started to growl soft, it grew louder and louder as he slowly stood to his feet. Fatfang stood nearly eight feet tall and stretched his chest and arms out long before letting loose a bellowing roaring that could have been heard a mile away from the house. The massive bear looked down at Almeric holding the silvery metal shield and the spear in his hands, Fatfang blinked twice before grunting and huffing. In a flash the bear charged out of the room on all fours and into the chamber beyond, his weight shaking his surroundings with each bound. Almeric stood unflinching for a half second while the thought “That was easy.” passed through his mind. 

After running his way back out of the massive labyrinth of basement chambers he and Letha made their way up the stairs back into the large gathering room. On the far end Gwelds and Freatha huddled together on their large bed matt. The linoone and mareep were still asleep but waking them would be no issues, he sprinted over and shook them both awake.

 

“Hey guys, dad needs you up stairs. Get going!” he slapped Gwelds the linoone firmly on the rump and the two pokemon got up and started to run out of the long sitting room. Almeric stopped to catch his breath for a few seconds and his growlithe stopped to do the same, they then started off towards the main stairs and back up to his father’s room. It took him a good four minutes before he made his way back into the large room now stuffed with people, Varrick and Bellona with her Electrike next to her. His twin sisters Keela and Jeola with their twin duskulls floating next to them, His older brother’s Olaf, Harloff, and Veils with each of their Teddiursa next to them, and lastly his younger sister Cerra. Loric stood in front on them all with Fatfang standing next to him looking angry, Gwelds and Freatha stood next to the massive bear echoing his height. 

 

“Good now we’re here, Almeric said that there were two men who were waiting for more. So need to prepare for anything we can think of, boys.” Loric looked to the Three brothers and their small bears who perked their ears up. “Go get your warmest gear on and patrol the wall, Keela and Jeola i need you two to get you hexes and spells on around the grounds and the entrances to the house.” Almeric’s five siblings all jolted out of the room followed by their respected pokemon, normally Olaf, Harloff and Veils would be jesting up a storm but everyone in the family realised this was no time for jokes. 

 

“What about us father?” Bellona said looking back from Varrick to herself.

 

“You two take Cerra and these two,” he nodded to Gwelds and Freatha, “And roundup our valuables and store them safely in the basement somewhere then make your way to the wall and join your brothers.” He waved them off causing a small stampede out of the room, leaving Loric, Almeric, Fatfang and letha in the room.

 

“Dad, why is this happening?” Almeric said as his father turned and strode over to a corner of his room and pulling a thick woven brown cord from behind a notch on one of his wardrobes.

 

“Bah! Some people can’t deal with losing and hold long term grudges son. Lets just say your dad won a pretty important battle here in Buruul and got some loot from it that some people would kill for it.” Loric said before yanking on the cord, letting loose a torrent of thick dust. A slanted ladder dropped down from the ceiling and a small square hole in the wood was now revealed.

 

“You mean the Fire stones.” Almeric said walking over to the slanted stair.

 

“You got it,” Loric climbed the ladder and crawled into the small hole, he rummaged around for a bit before pulling a decent sized black chest from the darkness and tossing it down to Almeric. He caught it with a thud and had to stop himself from buckling down to the floor, he grunted loudly with the impact.

 

“How many are there?” Almeric started to fuddle with the lock trying to open the chest.

 

“No time for that. Almeric you and Letha need to run, I need you to take the Firestones and run. Get out of here, out of Buruul.” His father’s dark stormy blue eyes pierced into elevating the aura of desperation and emanate danger.

 

“What?! You want me to leave the family? Dad I-”

 

“QUIET! Please listen son. I know the men who are coming for these stones, er i know the man behind them. He has a personal grudge against me, but i will not give them up. Almeric when i stole these stone from an Idygocy battalion scouting up here in Buruul, they were not in this chest. They were in a beautiful green and gold bag with an emblem i did not recognize. It took me a long time to find out what this emblem was and who the original owners were but eventually i found them. You have to take these stone to the Thuusains of the Verdant Wastes, they are the rightful owners. I’ve always known they must go back to the them sometime, i guess now is the time.” Loric looked solum as they made intense eye contact, Almeric didn’t know what to think. There was so much to take in and so much to think about. Almeric pushed his thoughts aside needing to speak.

 

“You want me to go all the way to Opiath? Dad that’s all the way across the damn world! How the hell am i supposed to get there? And how do you know that these men won’t just chase me down across the world?” Almeric spoke in a panicked tone, he had only even been on a boat once before so the prospect of making his way to other side of the world made him extremely uneasy.

 

“I don’t want you to! I love you son and want you here by my side and with your brothers and sisters, I  _ need _ you to go to Opiath, and find Captain Nath Anaklees. These men won’t chase you down, they won’t even know that you’ve left. Wait until the fighting starts then make your way out the back, then go to way the long way around to town.” His father hopped up and pulled a small brown bag of coin for a drawer by her bed, “Take this and purchase a cabin on a ship headed for a major port somewhere, see if you can get one a room on a ship of someone we know. Like Mr. Yellsith, or Kent and Lora’s large fishing ship. This money can’t take you much farther than that, and this is why i am sending you Almeric. You are more savvy and forward thinking than Varrick or Bellona or any of the others, they have their strengths but yours are what i need now son.” A loud shout sounded out from the courtyard below and then the clattering of metal on metal, Fatfang turned from playing with Letha to look at Loric. They both nodded to each other and the massive Ursaring leaped up and bounded out of the room,

 

“Dad, how do you know i can do this? How do you know i won’t fail?” Almeric couldn’t meet his father's eye when he spoke, he stuffed the coin pouch into an inner pocket of his coat.

 

“Just a father’s intuition, take the spear and shield with you make good use of them. The shield is imbued with an old magic, your grandfather gave me a vague description of what it does long ago, but from what i’ve tested it’s god damned invincible. Never been able to put a fucking scratch on it.”

 

“What about the spear?” Almeric stood up and held the spear and shield in his hands while his father pulled a brown satchel from a closet and thrusted to him.

 

“It’s just a spear, i kept them together just in case. Put the chest in here and them never let this bag out of your sight, sleep with it, eat with it, and shit with it. Got it?” Loric pulled him close into a firm embrace, then pushed him away. “Destiny doesn’t wait son, GO!” Almeric stalled for half a second still overwhelmed with all of the information he had to soak in, he then turned and ran out of the room as the distinct sound of his father’s great sword unsheathing was heard behind him. 

 

Letha followed closely behind as they reached the spiral stairs and flew down the seemingly endless steps. When he hit the bottom he turned to look at the hall leading to the main entrance, where just beyond his sibling were locked in combat with unknown with their father’s old enemies. It took every ounce of willpower in him to not turn left towards the action, he had to close his eyes and breathe deep for a quick second before steeling himself to escape. Letha no longer bogged down by the hand cart ran up to every doorway and corner on their way to back door by the kitchen, she was as on edge as he had ever seen her but for once Almeric was thankful for her alertness. They sprinted out into the cold of night and through the thick snow towards the tree line ahead. The two names his father told him repeated over and over in his head like the ringing of a great bell.

“Captain Nath Anaklees, The Thuusains,” those two names ran through his mind over and over while the snow crunched below them. The forest just south of their manor was the thinnest and least wild of them, but it didn’t last long as he made his was towards the town. It took him hours and hours of running at his mad pace before he had to stop and take a breather, Letha darted around staying vigilante. Almeric decided to walk forward, not letting himself stay still for too long, there was always a chance he was being hunted this second. After another few minutes he started his run again making good pace through the now dense pine forest. 

 

He had never appreciated the road from their house to Sprucepost before but now he was missing it more than ever, he must have gone another three hours for the darkness was turning to a feint blue as the night turned to morning. Almeric was battling exhaustion hardily and wondered how well Letha was doing, she continued to dart around to all the the openings in the thick wood her tail pointed up fully alert. The morning slowly turned to a dim blue glow while the woods started to thin. Almeric’s eyes were feeling heavy and his legs burned with a sore pain. He finally rounded a thick tree and over a small hill to see the tall tops of buildings with smoking chimneys and the tall wooden wall of Sprucepost. 

 

Finding an opening on a ship in the morning hustle of Sprucepost Port was not supposed to be harder than the long run through the forest from his house. Yet it was. Getting the sailors attention during their busyness hard enough let alone talking them into renting a cabin, but just as his father said Almeric found Kent and Lora loading up their large fish and crabbing ship at the far end of the dock.

 

“Kent! Lora!” Almeric ran up to the thin mustached man who was looking over a notepad while his wife, Lora the equally tall and thin red haired woman, was ordering around sailors to load up crates and barrels and bundles of nets.

 

“Almeric? Almeric Stoneguard? Lora! Look little Almeric’s all grown up, and it looks like he’s got his father’s old shield, what’s wrong wrong the old man need some more money so he’s sending you off to sell it is he?” Kent Salweer and his wife Lora had known his father when he was a young man just leaving Buruul to go off to war and clearly they had only really known his as such. Never really as the man he turned into.

 

“Uh yeah, how did you know?” Almeric thought going along with this was easier than figuring out a quick lie.

 

“Ah well the mrs. and i talk alot about the comings and going of Sprucepost, nothing much ever goes on with your family as you know. We knew ol’ Loric had enough money from his Campaigns to fund his life for a while but we knew it would run out eventually. And now to get more he’s finally gonna sell that legendary shield of his, i assume he’s sending you to one of the big port cities nearby? Xai’lious or maybe Cellstone City?”

 

“Yeah, could you take me to one of them? I have money for board and,” he started to pull the pouch of money from his jacket when Kent raised his hand to stop him. 

 

“Oh hah, no no. No money from a Stoneguard, nah you’ll come with us for free no trouble. LORA!” he shouted loud and seemingly angrily, Lora shot her head around looking totally unphased.

 

“Yes Kent?” she shouted back to him, cupping a hand to her mouth,

 

“Ready a cabin for Almeric here! He’s coming with us to Cellstone.” She gasped loudly and smiled.

 

“Splendid!” Lora started to order their sailors around much faster as Kent took Almeric by the shoulder and lead him towards the ship clutching his notepad in his other hand. Almeric and letha walked towards the ship nearly ready to pass out onto the stone walkway of the port. 

 

“My gods boy, when was the last time you slept?” Kent grabbed Almeric after he fell from exhaustion. “Let’s get you to onto a nice soft bed, and when you awake we’ll have some food ready for ya. Sound good?” 

 

“Yeah thanks,” Almeric tried to say something else but he drifted in and out on consciousness until he felt his tired body his a smooth soft mattress and he immediately passed out.              


	19. Arrival, Idgyocy Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akiva, the Grand Countess of Galavadra arrives at the southern border of Noyushkah.

Akiva

24th of Delroth

Arrival Idgyocy Style

 

Sand soaked wind blasted across Akiva’s face guard, her hips shifted left and right slowly with the cadence of her tan steeds walk. The deep red setting sun beat down on them hard as they traveled across the seemingly endless sand spackled stone road. Akiva truly knew heat and how to deal with the sun down south in Galavadra, but before now she had never been somewhere so warm and so dry. At least in Galavadren they were right next to the Aggriact sea, here in Idgyos they were far from the coast, there was no cooling sea breeze for sweet relief.

 

“Water!” Akiva shouted, she turned round fast in an attempt to get her home off of her mind. One of her men ran up from the main caravan and tossed her up a waterskin, Akiva caught it and was immediately disappointed with its weight. She uncapped it and drained what little amount was left,

 

“Is that it?” She spoke after and exasperated sigh. Akiva didn’t have the energy to be as angry as she felt, she brushed sweat off of her brow and leaned her head back dropping the waterskin. The man scuffled to pick it up and stow it away before responding,

 

“Yes ma’am, we should be nearing the southern border of Noyushkah soon.” Her attendant spoke with a dry unwatered voice, the dessert air had clearly taken quite the toll on the young brown haired man.

 

“They fucking Idgyocy better greet us well, why don't you take a shift in the cart Cal. I can't have any of you dying out here.” Akiva didn't mean to be so kind to her men, but now was not the time for wrath.

 

“Th...thank grand countess, i.. I know not what to say to you other than a simple thank you.”

 

“Just get the fuck back there, and make sure the others are okay as well.” Akiva kept her gaze forward, she might have decided to be kinder than usual but he still wasn't worth her gaze. The Old Iron Lord's of Galavadra would never have taken a journey to Idgyos to discuss terms, let alone head up the caravan themselves. They would have sent proxies and servants in their stead, this had always held Galavadra back in it's political standings. The Iron coast was only ever seen as a trading kingdom and nothing more, Akiva was going to change her people's perception of the high class by her own merit.

 

The blood red sun was getting dangerously low in the sky, they didn't have the proper supplies for a night out in the dessert and Akiva was starting to worry. She started taking a detailed mental account of all that they had as the sandstone road curved around a tall brown clifface. The dread of losing some of their horses and maybe even some of her men to the cold was truly setting in, when they saw two golden orbs dimly lighting a tall wooden gate. Akiva sighed a hearty sigh of relief while they approached the southern border of Noyushkah. In the distance the gate made a creaky chain rattling sound before opening slowly from the middle. A small party of men and women in light gray and red robes came walking up to Akiva on her horse.

 

“Greetings Grand Countess Akiva Za’laia of the Iron coast of Galavadra, welcome to the sun blessed Uvhakai, we are humbled to have you here in our country. How was your ride from the coast? I pray the dessert wasn't to harsh on you all.” A small bald dark skinned man said as he stepped forward with his hands clasped together.

 

“It was hot my good sir, hot and gods be damned tiring. We need food and water immediately.” Akiva spoke bluntly as she dismounted and walked firmly passed him through the open gate. The man seemed taken aback for a moment before he caught up to her side. Dozens of attendants appeared from the building of the gatehouse behind them to help with her caravan. 

 

“Ah yes right away my countess, an-”

Akiva turned and grabbed the man by his collar interrupting him.

 

            “First of all, I am not  **_your_ ** anything. Second of all I don't want to hear anything else from you until me and my men get our fucking water.” She pushed him off and then walked forward down the brightly lit street of the strange city. It was unlike anything Akiva had seen before, the bright white walls of the buildings were such a stark contrast from the dark skin of it's denizens and the bright colors of their clothing. A few moments later, while Akiva was starting at a pair of young women shopping at a jewelry cart, the same man strode over to her side and handed her a large crystal goblet of water. 

 

“Ah, now that is some deliciously clear water. You may now speak again.” Akiva said without a hint of humor.

 

“Uhm.. yes.. This way your grace, our emperor has been staying at his southernmost estate waiting for your arrival.” the bald man said no longer able to meet her fiery gaze, which was all the better as Akiva was still mystified by the sights and smells of the city. Her metal boots clicked loudly on the polished marble floor below, Akiva took this opportunity to look down and see the beautiful tapestries painted into the city walkways.

 

“Is this a particularly wealthy part of Noyushkah, er Uvhakai?”

 

“Oh yes ma’am, we are in the Youiv market. It is where our wealthiest southern citizens and travelers come to shop, this particular market is one of our smaller ones.”

 

“How big is it?” Akiva said as a group of young men and women gawked at Akiva and giggled as they walked by. Akiva paid no mind of them.

 

“I’d say it's a good few miles around, not nearly as large at the bazaar surrounding the emperor's palace. That's where all the serious patrons go to spend their silver, as we say.” He smiled wide leading her forward into a beautiful red, blue and golden pavilion. The velvety trimmed flaps of the tent pushed lead them into a tent so large Akiva nearly mistook it for a regular palace.

 

“What in the world... “ Akiva’s mouth stay ajar for a moment as she spun around taking in all the sights and smells of this monolithic tent. From the outside it wasn’t as clear that tent stretched back, up, and out. Several vendors and even more attendants waved and beckoned her to come see their wares or sample their goods.

 

“You may browse at your heart's content your grace, however my lord is expecting us soon.”

 

“I’ll be back later then i suppose, take me to this southern palace your emperor and i have much to discuss before i enjoy the pleasures of your city.” Akiva said in a relaxed tone, slight ecstasy setting in while she caught the eye of beautiful server. She held a silver tray of extoric bright blue and purple fruit, wearing a long flowing red dress. She turned and met Akiva’s eye and smiled wide, a spark flared up inside Akiva as she followed the bald man leading her through the tent. 

 

“Do you like her my grace? If you would like i could send her to your room later this evening, however if we are being honest, our spies already let us know about your foundess for pleasure.” Akiva turned and met his eye now, she raised her eyebrow ready to be angry but just as curious about what he had to say. “I could show you to a larger selection of some of our more experienced, lovers.”

 

“Is that so?” Suddenly a man appeared from her left to hand her a large goblet of sparkling pink wine, she took it without hesitation.

 

“Indeed, here in Noyushkah we treat our pleasure workers with dignity and respect, they help us when we are feeling lower than we’ve thought possible. Or when we are feeling strong and confident and need to express that through our bodies, here they are artisans of the touch.” Akiva sipped the sweet and tart wine as she listened to his inspiring words, in Galavadra they mostly looked down on the sex workers and prostitutes. “Gutter sluts, and seed suckers.” they would call them. Akiva was never into the deemening of them, she hadn’t been a patron to one yet but maybe now was the time.

 

“I think I am going to partake, after our meeting I want you to send a girl to lead me to a selection of your finest. I'm tired of your bald little head and wish to be accompanied by someone beautiful like me.” Akiva walked at her normal quickened pace causing the little man to stumble over his long robe as he tried to keep up.

 

“Of.. of course your grace,” the small man tripped again stumbling on the ground and his words. “I’ll organize that at once… i take it you can find your way to the palace yourself?” Akiva sensed the desperation in his voice and nearly decided to make him stumble along the whole way with her.

 

“You take it do you?” Akiva said this just to make him continue along for another few steps, “Go on then, i’ll find your palace.”

 

“Thank you, your grace.” then man said as he bowed low and turned away into nothingness among the glorious and beautiful chaos of the bazaar. Akiva walked on a good ways before a particularly interesting cart caught her eye, she took a long drink from her cup of wine before walking towards it.

 

“Greetings my light faced friend, how are you on this fine afternoon?” The attractive woman behind the interesting stand said with the standard Noyushkian accent.

 

“What are these things?” Akiva said looking with unending curiosity at the iridescent glowing crystal behind him that was orbited by different color and rune inscribed cratered spheres.  

“Ah yes, most foreigners are not yet acquainted with our mages most ingenious invention. We call them Ashra Orbs, or battle moons, the colloquialism has not yet fully been decided on but they are quite the things nonetheless. They each hold a the eternal essence of a spell or enchantment, and will orbit around the owner to continuously cast said spell or enchantment whenever necessary.” Akiva’s eyebrows raised at the womans explanation, she was already counting up the money they had on them in her head.

 

“And what are some of the spells on them? And how often are they cast? Does it know who is friend and who is foe?”Akiva didn’t mean to sound like an excited child in awe of a simple spectacle but her curiosity was piqued. The woman chuckled softly while Akiva took another large gulp of the wine, her cup was now half empty and she was feeling significantly looser.

 

“Aha, i can see you are more than interested and i can also see that you are not from here. Are you part of the foreign dignitaries from Galavadra visiting today? My wife cooks in the southern palace and she was told that they would be here today.” The woman’s eyes bulged with intrigue.

 

“I am. You are actually speaking with their leader.” Akiva said with an even voice, she didn’t want to change how the woman was treating her.

 

“You’re Akiva Za’laia? The new single leader of the Iron Coast? My gods they never said you would be so beautiful.” the older woman’s mouth hung open for a few seconds after she finished speaking.

 

“That i am, and thank you. So what are some these spells, you are right i’m far more than interested.”

 

“Well we have an incredible array of variety in our Ashra Orbs, it might be faster to list some the effects we don’t have i would not want to waste your time.”

 

“I’ll be decisive, i want something that will help me keep control of any scuffle i might find myself in.” Akiva said stepping around the counter and into the back tent, revealing the vast selection of multi colored moons.

 

“Of course we have frost based moons, that can attack with cones or rays of frost to slow your would be attackers down. Or if you are feeling more illusion-y you could go for an orb that will summon phantom knights around you in fights.” Akiva nodded as she looked around at everything in the tent.

 

“Mmm, neither of those sound right for me.”

 

“Well i do have one that i’ve been saving for someone special, would you like to take a look?” The woman looked at Akiva with fierce hazel eyes, normally this level of salesmanship would start to annoy Akiva but she was beyond amazed. She could only nod in response she was so intrigued. A few moments later the women had pulled a chest out from underneath one of the tall black shelves, and handed it to Akiva. She lifted the creaky wooden top to reveal the crimson red and black cratered moon inside, slightly bigger than the others in the tents.

 

“This is my suppliers greatest creation, when the crazy old man told me about it i traveled all the way across Idgyos to his mountain home to get it. His letter only hinted of this things power so i had to hear it from him in person, and let me tell you that what he said was worth the journey.” The dark skinned woman gazed with deep sincerity through her mahogany brown eyes, Akiva was fully engrossed in her story and was waiting on every breath. 

“What?! What did he tell you!” Akiva was whisper shouting without meaning too.

 

“Three years he spent making this thing, he poured nearly his entire fortune into hunting the resources required for it and the process almost killed him, more than once. Needless to say that when he go it right he was very pleased with the thing.” Akiva was leaned in so close that the woman’s whispers were as loud as the most emphatic of speakers. “But I think the process may have drove the poor or fool a bit insane, his house and his alchemical laboratory had become one in the same. Potion’s spilled on the floor causing mad fungal growth and holes where acid or fire had burned through the floor, exposing the basement which was a whole other bag of worms. Nearly literally.” The woman turned to a table behind her and poured a drink, Akiva took the signal, drained her glass, and then offered her now empty cup to the woman. She filled it generously and continued her story. “But my god it was all worth it when he demonstrated the power of his invention, i would try to describe it for you my grace but i doubt i have the ability to truly convey it. So i will so you, but first i need you to act as if it is yours.” 

 

“What? Why would you need that to show me what it does?” Akiva said after a brief moment, 

 

“Part of the spell is based on ownership, but as he didn’t necessarily focus on this aspect it’s not perfect. You definitely have the willpower to make it work, and then once you truly believe you own it i am going to attack you. It will trigger the spell and then you will see why i’ve been saving it for someone with your, stature.” Akiva almost thought the lady was trying to seduce her, maybe she was just a pushy salesman but it had already sold Akiva on the Ashra Orb that she still hadn’t seen work yet. Akiva focused her mind and allowed herself to fully believe that she was now that owner of said orb, not a difficult task as she was already set on buying the thing.

 

“Okay, I'm ready.” The woman handed over the black and crimson red sphere to Akiva, she took it softly and after a brief moment accompanied by a humm the Ashra Orb began to float. After another few moments of Akiva staring in awe of the floating moon in front of her, it began to orbit around her. Staring above her shoulder and wrapping around her back at an angel. The orb made a rotation around every fifteen seconds or so.

 

“Woah,” Akiva watched with wonder at her new magical accessory while is spun around slowly and smoothly. She was a bit mesmerized by the slight pulsating red glow emanating from it’s core, now more than ever she desperately wanted to see what it would do. Her mind started to race with possibilities but she remained focus on herself here in dark red tent.

 

“Are you ready? Hah, i suppose i should be saying that to myself. Even knowing what it will do to me i am still terrified.” The woman pulled a knife from the side of her boot and stabbed swiftly. Akiva had to fight off her combat instincts to let the blow come through. Just as it would have landed the Ashra Orb Sprang to life and out from one of the larger craters came a small dark red pulsating circle. The woman jerked her hand back in pain and started to rub it gently, the knife had fallen to floor and the red and black sphere returned to its rotation. “Can you feel it?”

 

“Feel what? I only saw your ass getting zapped by this little guy, what am i supposed to be feeling?” Akiva said feeling already satisfied with an orba that would repel physical attackers and inflict pain back on them.

 

“Oh it does more than that, when the old man explained it to me, he had almost died from his demonstration of it. He didn’t have a frame of reference so he swung a fist at me with all his might, little tho it may have been as an old man. But i only just stabbed at you, i put very little force into my attack. Yet grave at yet the pain in my hand is still searing. What the Ahsra orb really does is steal the attack, you now have my soft little stab.. er well the Orb has it but it casts whatever has been stolen at your mental whim. Here,” The merchant pulled a fruit from one of her many shelves. “Try and cut this fruit with my thrust.” Akiva understood the concept but not how to command it, how was she supposed to stab with this woman’s action? 

**_THUNK_ **

Just as she had the thought it happened, the fruit split open from the center and juiced spirited out onto Akiva’s traveling robes. When Akiva thought about the action that was stolen it happened, she knew this would take some getting used to but she was even more sold on it than before.

 

“My good woman, what is your name. I feel as if i know you better than some of my high officers, yet we have not formally introduced ourselves.” Akiva said walking past the older woman and into the normal shop area with the orb still swirling around her. Akiva now had commanding mental ownership over it.

 

“My name Gehra Rev’Mour, and i must confess i already knew who you were long before you came to our city.” The woman said leaning against her light wooden counter casually and sipping her dark blue colored wine. 

 

“Ah, and how did you know who i was?”

 

“Well you see this is not my only stand, nor is it my only business, i am actually one of the most powerful merchant lords in all of Noyushkah. And due to the hundreds of people under my how should we say, influence, i know about all the wealthy and powerful people in the world. And you my dear are quickly becoming an international sensation.”

 

“Is that so?” Akiva’s mind was all of the sudden ablaze with hundreds of thoughts and possibilities, she knew she could not spend much more time here but she needed to speak to Gehra more. “Gehra i must leave to go to my meeting with your beloved emperor, but you and i are nowhere near finished with each other nor finished with this conversation. How much is my new Ashra orb?”

 

“Go, go to your meeting we will settle up about the price later as I,” She looked deep into Akiva’s eyes and betrayed more intelligence than before. “Have much more to discuss with you your grace. And be wary, a skilled mage can still weave their way around your orb.” Gehra waved her off and drained her glass, Akiva made no delay and turned away from the tent before more time was wasted here.       

 


	20. The Southern Palace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akiva continues on to her meeting with the Emperor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy snap! is that 3 chapters being dropped all within a week? oh my gosh

Akiva

24th of Delroth

The Southern Palace

  
  


Akiva strode down the street at a hurried pace, taking each step at her max length yet still with a relaxed attitude. Every rotation of her new Ashra orb that passed by was a happy reminder of Gehra, her new friend. Akiva had a feeling that she would prove to be a very important ally, but her cautious nature warned her not be to malleable as the woman was almost certainly a master of silver tongued swordplay. The bazaar got even more fantastical and attention grabbing as she made her way towards the massive palace in the distance. Akiva would normally have to fight her will with tooth and nail in order to keep her attention off the goods around her, but the allure of her new found defense was all the stimulation she needed. While she walked to sound of the metal on her boots on the smooth painted stone below, she thought of all the wondrous pain she could inflict with it and how incredibly unbeatable she would be now.

 

“You there you look like-” the merchant was cut off trying to capture her attention, Akiva was ready for the meeting and ready for what it would bring. After walking across a beautifully ornate bridge that gapped a wide flowing river of floral smelling water, the southern entrance of the palace came in sight. Akiva picked up her pace slightly and ignored the hundreds of onlookers that stared at her as she strode through the city. The closer she got to it the more monolithic the palace became, Akiva grew up on the Iron coast where the size of castles and walls was said to be near best in the world. Now she knew this was not much more than harmless propaganda, the Old Iron lords clearly embellished everything they possibly as to sell the ideal that Galavara was the best place in the world. Akiva had always known this is not to be true, but for some reason their lies about the structures had really stuck with her. But as she approached she could not help but feel like a fool, the palace before her was nothing less than a wonder of the world. Akiva started to notice that the closer she got the palace the more foliage and plant life was integrated into the architecture of the city. It was like the city was slowly turning into a botanical garden or a menagerie of plants, multi colored flowers and tall trees were planted in massive decorative stone circles. Akiva had to remind herself to close her mouth after looking on in wonder, and not after long she came upon the first staircase up to the palace entrance. Akiva took them two at a time on her way up, the stairs flattened out to a short landed where the first set of guards stood. The five of them stood tall and proud holding their curved pole axes straight up and down, their silk robes we're woven together with sections of thick copper colored plate armor. As Akiva walked up to them she contemplated in her head weather she could take on all five of them unarmed with the help of her new Ashra Orb. 

 

“Halt, what business do you have in the Southern Sun palace and speak quickly we have no need for time wasted.” The center most guard said in a harsh commanding tone, Akiva was half impressed with the man’s stature.

 

“My business is that of a meeting, a meeting with your emperor.” Akiva decided it would be a hard fought battle without a weapon but she would come out victorious nonetheless.

 

“I see, and what business would our dear lord have with a pale face like yourself?”

 

“Pale face?! Listen here you son of bitch my light tan is the epitome of southern beauty you dark skinned little shit.” The guards gripped their axes tightly and tilted them towards Akiva, she balled up her hands and took a half step back ready to fight the fight she had already planned out when a voice called out from above them. 

 

“Woah woah woah! stand down men stand down, this is our invited guest. The new grand countess of Galavadra you are about to attack,” the guards did a sharp double take looking horrified at Akiva, then back at the robed nobleman behind them. “Just thought you all should know, before you unknowingly declare war for us, and before she kills all five of you.” The guards did a second double take this time with a looked a pure disbelief.

 

“He's right you know, despite your training, however good it may have been, I would have taken the five of you down like a wild Salamence tearing through a farmers flock.” Akiva stated in a blank emotionless tone. The nobleman strode up the dark sandstone stairs towards them waving the guards off and smiling widely at Akiva. 

 

“Countess, my gods the stories do not do you justice. Look at you, you're more beautiful than I could have hoped for.” He reached the landing with they were they we're stood, Akiva got a good look at the man now more than pleasantly surprised with his face. The people of Noyushkah, and of the surrounding continent of Idgyos were generally quite attractive. Most of them have strong features and distinct handsome and beautiful faces, but this man was something else entirely. His jaw was strong and smooth like a Rhydon’s hide, and his hair was a beautiful sheer black color woven into dozens of strands sealed with small gold bands. His light gray and purple trimmed robes contrasted his dark skin and hair giving him an almost radiant presence. Akiva felt a surge of confidence knowing that a man so beautiful as this one felt the same about her own appearance.

 

“It's a pleasure to meet you mr..” Akiva dragged out her last word 

 

“Draka’ven, Tiro Draka’ven. And the pleasure is all mine.” He took Akiva’s outstretched hand and kissed it gently, normally a custom that Akiva despised but the man’s charisma was a powerful force. “We have been expecting you for some time now, I can see Gehra got to you first however.” Tiro said, his eyes fixed on Akiva's Ashra Orb in rotation.

 

“Ah yes well, as I'm sure you know she is quite the conversationalist. Shall we?” Akiva gestured up the stairs.

 

“Oh she is! And we should!” The man seemed to be unnaturally happy as he and Akiva made their way up. “What did you think of her if I might ask?”

 

“Honestly Tiro, she is far and away the best saleswoman i’ve ever come across.”

 

“She posed as a saleswoman?!” Tiro let out a raucous but brief laugh, “My gods, i had just expected her to pull the old owner comes in and offers a better price but no, our dear Gehra went all out for you Grand Countess.” He laughed a bit more, they had made it to the next landing on the stairway up. This one held double the guards of the first.

 

“Merely seemed like a good business tactic to me, and i am glad that she implored it. I am quite pleased with my purchase.” Akiva said her eyes fixing on her Orb as it made another pass round her body.

 

“As you should be, that particular orb has been in her collection for years, and has caught the eye of dozens of lords or ladies during it’s time on her shelf but as she said “When it’s time to sell the world will let me know””

 

“I guess the world had some words for him about me,” Akiva said as they reached the third and final landing up the stairs into the palace. “No gate?”

 

“Yes, no gate, as you’ll find most doorways in our city and our entire country are covered in cloth.” he gestured to the beautiful sunrise colored massive curtain’s that lie before them.

 

“I see,” Akiva could speak in length about the efficacy of function over form when it comes to prominent structures, but she was not here for that. As the two of them approached the silken curtains they started to part from the middle, Akiva looked up expecting to see some sort of rope pulley system but she spotted none. She knew that in the next few seconds this man would smugly ask if she knew how they were being moved. And obviously she was supposed to be beyond impressed when he says that they have wizards or other spell casters somewhere doing it. Akiva felt a deep biting strain trying to resist rolling her eyes as she heard him start to speak.

 

“Do you know how they work Countess?” with an adequate level of smugness for her antispaction.

 

“Oh i don’t know, some magic somewhere? Spare me the tourist treatment and show me to your emperor.” She snapped at him fiercely, as handsome and charming as the man may have been, Akiva was not some idiotic foreign princess coming to Idgyos to be courted. She was a conqueror forming an important alliance.

 

“Yes, your grace.” Akiva sensed the brine in his voice but she paid it no mind. The two of them passed through the now fully open curtains to reveal a truly grandiose sight. The walls were painted with scenes of Idgyocy men and women fighting in grand battles alongside dozens and dozens of pokemon. Persians pouncing and tearing apart enemy soldiers, Nidokings and Nidoqueens and Rydons in white plate armor sweeping their way through dozens of swordsman, Sandslashes depicted fighting five or six on one with ease, and Lapras's on the sea blasting through large wooden ships with ice. 

The Noyushians seemed to match themselves to their pokemon, warriors with staff swords and shields in light leather, larger men in heavy plate with big shields and halberds, and robbed men and women in all black wielding two curved blades each and dancing around the fight. Akiva looked it over as the two of them walked through the ornate hall, besides the tapestries their were two small streams running along either side of them with light blue tile below. Gold and purple banners with the Noyushkian crest ran along all the walls, and patches of flowers and vines in large ceramic pots build into the stone were dotted along the path giving the walk a peaceful atmosphere. Two holes on either side of the room were decorated with large white golden persian mouths pouring out thin waterfalls into pools, the sound making this place feel even more serine. 

 

At the end of the massive entrance hall was yet another staircase, As Akiva and Tiro approached she spotted another two guards at the top standing in front of the next door way. To kill the boredom she again imagined how she would take the two of them down unarmed, and just as before she imagined it without the use of her new Ashra Orb. They had the same staff swords from the tapestry around them, roughly six and a half feet in length half blade and half black wood. Akiva thought that these men would be harder to disarm than the others, their arms were unique and unexplored territory for Akiva. Tiro lead the two of them up the stairs towards the two guards,

 

“Evening Taeyak, Keal. How's the rounds been today?” Tiro greeted the guards kindly after they reached the top of the marble white stairs.

 

“Not much to speak of sir,” the first man said.

 

“Rafiq caught one of the fattest Ratta’s ive ever seen a while back, he’s been asleep since. The lazy shit.” the two guards chuckled at the joke for a quick second.

 

“You often call your Persian lazy Keal, but has a day gone by without Rafiq hunting down at least one rodent?” 

 

“Well no, but it’s hard not to be jealous of them. Sleeping, eating, hunting, fucking and fighting is all they have to do in life.” Akiva related all too well to this jealousy, she oft dreamed of a life as simple as that of a predator pokemon.

 

“I’d like to introduce you two to our most honorable guest, Grand Countess Akiva Za’laia.” Tiro guesterd towards her politely and turned to the side, as if giving her a spotlight. The two guards bowed low after a moment of brief shock.

 

“My grace if i may, you are not at all what we expected.” Taeyak said politely.

 

“And what were you expecting? Some sort of uppity politician?” Akiva responded in an even tone 

 

“Well more or less, yeah.” Kael spoke up. “When we were told of your rise to power they said you won political favor over the old Lord's and eventually over threw them. And well, the image we had all conjured up of you was not as you are.” Akiva suspected this had much to do with her height, most men who were shorter than her always had something to say about it.

 

“Ah well, don’t judge a book and what have you, might I see one of those weapons you have there?” Her eyes fixed on the silver and black pole sword in Kael’s hand.

 

“Of course my grace,” he handed over the staff to Akiva, she took it and began to admire. “Here we call them Halka Spears, they were designed hundreds of years ago to let warriors fight as fiercely and as swiftly as our Persians.” Akiva gripped the black pole in her hand firmly as she twirled it about and made slow mock stabbing and slashing gestures.

 

“Your grace we should really get to the meeting,” Tiro said with just the slightest hint of desperation. Akiva tossed the weapon back to its owner,

 

“Very well Tiro, it was good meeting the you two.” She said to them smiling and giving a slight nod.

 

“It was good to meet you as well your grace, welcome to Noyushkah.” Taeyak said politely. The two of them turned back to their lounged positions as Akiva and Tiro walked up the next set of stairs. they passed through the entrance, into a small well light hallway and then walked through to an ornate black and gold door. Tiro pulled a key seemingly from nowhere and slid it into the the lock, opening the door into one of the single greatest sights Akiva thought she would ever see.

 

“Woah,” Akiva normally tried to remain as poised and unaffected by such things, but she was only human. The room itself was an octagon and almost a mile around, three massive triangular pillars stood in another triangle near the center. She looked up to see the dozens of glass floors from the walkways and floors above. For a quick second Akiva thought she saw a few human shaped silhouettes moving around near a walkway above her, but she dismissed the thought after a she saw dozens of other shadows dancing around from the plants around. So much plant life grew and stretched around the massive interior that Akiva couldn't even place where most of it grew from. Yet seeing it all from where she and Tiro stood at the door she could she that this was truly an architectural marvel.

 

“Quite the sight to see isn't it,” Tiro said snapping Akiva out of her open mouthed wonder. “Most people don't see it at first but I'm wondering if you have?” 

 

“See it?! What do you mean see it there is so much to see how can I know what your referring to?” Tiro chuckled a little but Akiva felt him being hesitant.

 

“The Persians your grace, they are all around us and all around the room. At least two hundred of them actually live here in this hall, the emperor loves them. The entire royal bloodline has loved them for generations, as you'll find this palace is built just as much for them as for us people.” Akiva looked up and around and saw dozens of them immediately, they're yellow eyes glowing in the low light of the plant life surrounding them.

 

“And how do they feel about visitors?” Akiva said keeping the slight worry she felt out of her voice. The two of them started forward through the massive hall towards the the three stone pillars.

 

“Are you nervous your grace? They are actually very fond of visitors, they are merely being cautious at first just as most animals are.” He chuckled again for just a moment, Akiva was coming close to smacking that smile off of his smug little face. However with dozens of pairs of yellow eyes peering at her from the unseen an attack was clearly a bad idea.

 

“I wouldn't call it nervous exactly, I've never seen a Persian let alone see what it can do in combat. Just being reasonably cautious is how I'd say it.” 

 

“Ah yes, you are known for you reason you know.”

 

“Oh?” Akiva didn't really find this shocking but she decided to humor the man. “And what else am I know for Tiro?” 

 

“Well the first thing that's always said about you, is that you're more deadly on your own than any ruler the world has seen in centuries. They also say you are incredibly fair and kind to your citizens and that you’ve actually somehow managed to grow the Galavadren trade empire, now that can't possibly be true can it?”

 

“It can be, and it is. When I first became Grand Countess we had just under a thousand trade barges and now we have a good two and a half thousand. We sell more than just metals, ores, and gems now however.” Boredom began to creep it's ugly lethargic face round while talking about her trade empire.

 

“Oh I know! I actually received a packet of sweets as a thank you the other day and they were Galavadren made, quite good.” they were nearing the closest of the three pillars. “I'm afraid I'm not aloud to follow you up, your grace.”

 

“What a shame,” the sarcasm in her voice was so blunt it could knock out an Aggron.

 

“..Yes well only people of certain levels of importance are allowed up to where your headed.” He pointed to the pillar to the right and beyond the first. “That's where you will catch your lift up, I must leave you and attend to other matters your grace.” Tiro bowed low and spun round quickly and walked off, seconds later he was gone. A thick swell of irritation washed over her at this man, she took a deep breath and walked towards the pillar not knowing what to do once there. She assumed she would be taken either up or down via some sort of magic lift, but she wasn't sure what to expect at the top. Was she to be greeted by yet more robbed officials and nobles, or worse yet be expected to navigate her way around a series of hallways and rooms? She gripped the bridge with her finger and thumb and let loose a deep sigh as she passed by the first massive pillar. 

 

Once she was near the thing she could appreciate the beautiful carvings and craftsmanship poured into every inch, though her annoyance made it a bit challenging. Once at the base of the third pillar and her destination she stood, and waited, as she was instructed to do. Her annoyance starting to bubble, who the hell were these Noyuskahans to keep her waiting? Was this some sort of power play? Some sort of mental game to whittle away at her confidence, they already had her alone in a palace filled with elite guards and Persians. “They clearly have good spies to recognize me as the threat I am.” The thought solidified so hard she had to say it to herself. She gripped the hilt of her latest weapon and wished that it brought her more comfort than it did, just a standard Galavadren basket sword it would do her well but-

**VWOOOOOOOM**

 

Her thoughts were cut off by a loud mystic sound and a faint blue glow that shined through the carvings and runes on the pillar. The sound grew steadily until it was coming from just in front of her, suddenly a large door with cut off corners opened from inside. The open door revealed a vacant chamber with a circular pattern radiating from the center, Akiva stepped inside without hesitation the stone sealing behind her. Almost equally quickly she felt the distinct feeling of movement, the same sound started up as she began to rise. Akiva had never been on a magically powered lift such as this before, they have just recently started to incorporate the arcane arts into new Galavadren buildings. But this thing was a marvel, the sensation of lifting was much smoother, relaxing even. Akiva wished her trip was accompanied by some soothing music to match the feel of the ride, a few minutes went by and she started to tap her feet with impatience. 

 

Finally it began to slow to an even smoother pace to stop, in the same place the door had opened from at the bottom, again it appeared after a brief flash of light. Akiva walked through the open door and out of  wide stone triangular room, and just as she expected she walked out into another tall octagonal room riddled with stairs, walkways, and doors. Again for less than was conceivable she thought she saw another group of shadows in the rafters and railings above. She trusted herself too much to let the thought go, but she also knew that if these shadows we're after her sudden panic would alert them to her newfound knowledge. So Akiva continued forward at her normal pace, facade fully in place as she looked around in wonder at room around her. Much like the much larger hall below  plantlife was everywhere, she wondered if any Persians we're watching her as she walked through this place as well. But how could the shadows have gotten past the cats undetected? Akiva conjured up a grim image of dozens of large cat corpses littering the tree tops and stuffed in crevices.

 

“Your grace! Up here!” a man from above called out interrupting her thoughts for a moment. Akiva followed the walkway he shouted from with her eyes until it reached a staircase not to far from where she was. Her instincts begged her not to shout back to him but they may raise more suspicion then it's worth.

 

“I'll be up in just a moment,” Akiva’s mask of ignorance and apparent serenity was beyond believable, even if they had intensive training in recognizing human behavior they would not be able to tell she was aware of their presence.

 

“Wonderful! We will see you in a moment your grace.” The man called down again while Akiva made her way towards the nearby stair. Her mind was racing with ideas about why these men were here, perhaps they were just spies here to learn of Galavadren plans. Or maybe they were assassins here to stop Akiva’s campaign before it started, or even further they could be on a mission to kill the Noyushkian royalty to cripple her efforts. Maybe they were here without even knowing that she was coming for an important meeting and it was just mere coincidence, if so these men were in for more than they bargained for. 

 

She decided to take the marble silvery white and gold steps two at a time in a slight hustle pace, in an effort to taunt her would be predators. Just as all the other gods be damned stairs in this city, landings sectioned off the stairs every fifty feet or so. Akiva was much more used the long harsh and steep staircases all over the Iron Coast, castles and palaces built there were far taller than they were wide. She still would not have lost her breath from the long trip up but the landings were a nice relief nevertheless. She was more than certain the shadowy figures examined her every move and if they knew who she was they would be even more watchful. Her mind was acting quick seeing every possible opening they might have on her, which was far to many in this gigantic open room, her crimson and black Ashra orb made another pass and a mini wave a calm washed over her. But now more than ever was she missing her battle companions, Galth her Aggron, her two Dodrio Vala and Fara, but most of all she wished Titan was here. With him around she would never have felt tension like this, even while being unarmed she would be at full ease. 

 

The stairs stopped at another landing but this one stretched out into one of the tempered glass walkways going across the room, Akiva had to suppress a visible gulp. This could be such an obvious trap if the bridge was rigged to break or fall out from under her. But Akiva couldn’t even take a second to hesitate, so she she kept her pace up and made her way across the possible death trap. Her metal boot hit the glass and for a moment time refused to move, she was so convinced that she was going to fall that she nearly tripped over her next step. Akiva caught her footing in the next step and then strode quickly across, it took her another ten minutes to make it up the rest of the stairs and to the top where the man who called to her was still waiting.

 

“Ah, Lady Akiva Za’laia as i live and breathe, it is so wonderful to have you here in out inner sanctum. I am Ingala Sen, one of Emperor Ubunka’s personal attendants.” The man was taller than the other two officials she had met with, but this man’s bald head was littered with black tattoos.

  
“Yes well it’s quite the building isn’t it,”

 

“And you haven’t even seen half of it yet!” he laughed a hearty laugh for a quick second, Akiva smiled and then gave her best fake politician laugh as to maintain image.

 

“I’m sure it’s lovely throughout, but i assume your emperor

Is desperate to get this meeting underway.” Akiva knew that the more people she had around the more buffers there would be.

“That he is! Right this way,” the man turned around sharp and began to walk at a surprisingly quick pace, Akiva kept up with ease however, the man was a good five inches shorter than she was. “He’s been waiting for some time, but when he heard Gehra got a hold of you well let’s just say he was understanding, but annoyed.”

 

“She is quite the saleswoman, information gets around quick here doesn’t it?” This topic had been on her mind since the southern gate.

 

“Oh yes Lady Akiva, information is our trade! Long ago our Empress Teleaka Quar spent dozens of years and millions of jeul to form an information sector that now stretches across all of Noyushkah. She had handlers train our Yanma to deliver messages for us, and as i'm sure you know Yanma can fly at ridiculous speeds so we information gets around here quite fast.” 

 

“She sounds like quite the woman, how come i haven’t seen any of your Yanma?” Akiva said, she really wished she could keep her voice down but she had to match this man’s conversational enthusiasm. She hadn’t seen the shadowy figures in far too long for her own comfort, but she was sure she still had the upper hand.

“They like to stay out of people’s way and like i said, they are quite fast. But my lady if you would like you could meet my daughter's Yanma, she is quite fond of it and i'm sure she’d love to introduce you.” The man said with what Akiva felt was legitimate pleasure, he clearly loves his daughter.

 

“You know i think i will good sir, come and find me during my time here in Noyushkah and i will gladly meet your daughter.” The two of them walked up to a silver door on the wall and the man opened it obviously delighted.

 

“Thank you your grace, she will love to meet you!” The door opened up into a long oval room centered with a an almost equally large thick wooden table, with a large map of the world built onto it leaving very little room around the edge. At the far end of the table was an beautifully carved and enchanted to look like flowing golden sands. Sat atop the chair was the noble emperor Ubunka, he was an extremely good looking man with a long chiseled face and the darkest skin of all the Noyuskahans she had seen. He stood from his chair and spoke in a loud booming voice.

 

“Lady Akiva, Grand Countess of Galavadra. I am emperor Dahala Ubunka, lord of Noyushkah, welcome.” He voice was smooth and commanding like an opera singer, and he stood fairly tall. Akiva bowed her head and torso low before speaking, 

 

“Your imperial majesty, it is my honor to be in your presence.” Akiva wasn't being sincere but she knew that not a soul could detect it, magical or not. Dozens of chairs filled with more bodies surrounded the rest of the table and each pair of eyes were locked on the foreign pale skinned woman standing before them.

 

“How is our dear Gehra? We’ve been talking about your little shopping venture through the southern plaza, might i inspect your new Ashra orb?” The emperor said as he stepped down from his still shifting and flowing throne, he walked around the narrow towards her. An odd gesture for someone in such high standings as him but then again they clearly knew more about Akiva than she had expected. He stood close enough to touch the orb but just watched it orbit her slowly, Akiva met his eye and he smiled yet again. He wasn't quite as tall as Akiva was but he was several inches taller than most of his people,

 

“Do you need anything before we begin? A beverage perhaps?” Akiva couldn't help but feel as if this gesture was in some way beyond what it seemed, but also she knew she was on edge from the unknown silhouettes.

 

“Some cold water would be alright,” Akiva couldn't take the time to look around the oval room, she didn't know if they were still watching her. The tall dark skinned emperor snapped his fingers twice in quick succession and an attendant standing in the dark jump up and flew out of the room. Akiva then followed Emperor Ubunka’s hand to a seat near across from him at the other end of the room. She made her way around while every eye in the room, seen and unseen, were all fixed on each step she took. The attendant who had darted out before returning with a crystal goblet full of water and set it just before her,

 

“Akiva Za’laia, as i stare in awe. You know when the rumors hit us of a southern woman beyond describable beauty had taken over all of Galavadra we thought it would merely be another overblown fisherman's tale. Wrong we were, weren’t we?” All of the noble men and women around the table nodded and muttered in agreement. Akiva suppressed a blush and nodded back to them.

 

“Well i wouldn’t so much say i took  _ over  _ Galavadra, more that i revealed horrid hypocrisy and some less than legal special activities the members of the Old Iron Council were hiding from the masses. And i’m sure most of my people would agree i didn’t take over, but simply took charge.” Akiva took a sip of her water to emphasize her point, and the room remained silent for brief moment. “But i appreciate your kind words your majesty.” bowing her head for something so trivial annoyed her, but tradition still dictated the law around here.

 

“You’re more than welcome, normally i would spend the time to introduce you to each of the members of my council. But as i’m sure you’re more aware you’re proposal has time restrictions to it.” the members of his council nodded in agreement looking back from Akiva to the Emperor.

 

“Indeed it does.”

 

“And seeing as you will be here in Noyushkah for several days you may become acquainted later, now onto the matter at hand. In your first letter you spoke in vague terms and as i’m to understand while not yet in power? Is that correct?” All of the dark skinned faces were fixed on her.

 

“Yes it is, a fortnight prior was my promotion to Knight Captain. With it i had been given command over two thousand of Galavadra’s finest new recruits and two new warships,” Dozens of eyebrows raised at hearing this, “Lord Muuthric of the Old Iron council then summoned me to his manor, he had a task for the new Knight captain Za’laia.” 

 

“And just what was this task?” Ubunka said firmly, not letting the moment land as it should have.

 

“What it was truly, was the last nail in the coffin. The late lord Muuthric wanted me to route some of the local “bandits” near his farmlands, what he failed to mention was these “bandits” were nothing more than people he outcasted from his kingdom for various reasons living in the woods and taking food rations that the farmers had left out for them. I took the two warships loaded up with half my men and sailed up the coast,” Her eyes fell as while her mind recalled the horrible screams and wails of pain, “After that i knew that the mission i had unknowingly started at such a young age needed to be completed.”

 

“Your mission? Pray tell your grace, what was this mission?”

 

“To end the Iron Council once and for all, the group of greedy old lords that used to rule my nation would only ever meet three times each year to protect their own industries and interests. In the early years of Galavadra we required their input and totalitarian command, when we were just leaving our huddles and villages stowed away in caves. Hundreds of years later and they still ruled the land as if it existed only for them, simply put i stopped their reign.”

 

“Simply put? Lady Akiva i’m not sure if you are aware of this or not but your means of taking over are more shrouded in mystery than the damned Giztz island!” one of Emperor Ubunka’s own council, a tall woman whose brow was beyond furrowed, spoke up fiercely.

 

“Yeiha please, stifle yourself. Our guest deserves the same respect that you all show me. All though she is right your grace, the amount of time and money i put into the investigation of your rise to power is, was, irresponsible. But i had to know. When we heard things were shaking up in Galavadra we assumed it was just yet another increase to the cost of their metals and jewels, but when we learned it was a beautiful young woman taking charge of the nation i was beyond intrigued.”  Akiva expected him to continue and stayed silent, staring unflinchingly into his dark brown eyes. He said nothing.

 

“So? What did you learn from your investment?” Akiva asked finally.

 

“Not one thing, my network of spies is extensive to say the least, yet not one of them could learn much of anything about you or your rise. All we could really learn was that Galavadren morale was and has been increasing since your promotion, so you can imagine our reaction once your first letter finally made it through the works.” 

 

“I’d like to imagine some excitement was felt.”

 

“Excitement and a fair amount of fear with all cards on the table, Galavadra is one of the only nations to rival ours in population and wealth, but our navy could not hold a toe against yours as i’m sure you’re aware. As it was being read aloud to me i was braced for terms, but not for what i heard.” The emperor stood up from his chair and started to walk around the room slowly.

 

“What is it that surprised you so much your majesty?” Akiva said even though she knew exactly why it was so surprising, her letter had expressed Akiva’s interest in an alliance for grand conquest, as she had put it.

 

“Well the first thing that stood out was your plan to attack the Thuusains, around here they are spoken of like gods, the last time we had contact with them a man and his Arcanine came to our border to help track down a dangerous escaped prisoner. It took the elf not three hours to find the man and bring him to justice. The next thing that caught our collective attention was your clear understanding of our pokemon handlers, and of their daily comings and goings, and your idea to make to entire world as efficient as we are here in Noyushkah. But what really got out attention was your attached notes about the Earth Titan, Groudon.” Akiva knew this was coming from the moment she sat down, learning of Groudon’s under earth prison was the point in her life when she knew that her plans must be put into action. Suppressing a smirk she decided to goad him on,

 

“Do go on emperor.” The two of them locked fierce eyes, Ubunka broke the silence with a loud third finger snap.

 

“Leave us,” Immediately the noble men and women got up and out of the chairs and swiftly filed out of the oval council chamber. The emperor paced for the few seconds before they were alone, the door closed with loud thud and his head turned with a knowing smile.

 

“Grand Countess,”

  
“Your majesty?”her tone was almost mocking. He sat at a chair across from her instead of at his throne. He fingered at the table while Akiva took a quick sip of her water and then set it back down, stamping the silence. One of the assassins up in the rafters flinched from the noise and a fire lit inside Akiva as she knew what was going to happen. 

 

“Your Grace, we both know that you could have sent envoys for this meeting. I know that you are more prepared for your proposed conquest than you are letting on, and you know more about the Demi-gods and the legendaries than you are telling me.” Akiva’s faced remained a stoic emotionless wall. “What i am having a hard time understanding, is what is keeping me from simply taking you captive and prying the information out of your mind by any means i please?” She took another sip from her goblet before responding.

 

“Well  _ Dahala _ , i have i two answers for you. I’m not so sure you and your guards could even capture me, i sized them up already and i’m not impressed.” The Emperor's brow line raised in muted surprise. “And more importantly, you have a few uninvited guests here in your chambers.”

She kicked herself away from the table in a sudden motion while grabbing her nearly empty goblet of water, she leaned back and threw the glass straight up with deadly force. It shattered against the back of one of the hidden figures up in the rafters, he roared out in pain and fell as the other shadow leapt down onto the table before her. The Emperor began to yell, the assassin lunged at Akiva with a shiny steel knife. She turned her chest to the side to dodge to blow and leaned in grabbing the man by the neck, but he was fast and kicked away from her with both legs flipping backwards. Akiva jumped off the ornate wooden chair and pushed it hard at where he was landing, then took another glass from the table and jumped forward. The assassin was a nimble foe for they landed on the sliding chair with ease before rolling off of it, the chair continued forward at insane speed and broke against the wall. 

Akiva tossed through the glass in front of where she thought they were going to go and struck a hit, they ducked low and ran a step forward before the glass crashed hard into the soft spot on their head. Blood began to pool where their body had crashed into the table, the door to the chambers flung open as Akiva walked over to the silvery knife that now lied on the ground. Several guards and brave noblemen and women poured into the room and checked on the emperor, Akvia made her way to the moaning body on the table. She tore away the jet black face mask and and grabbed the man by his collar,

 

“Who are you!?” she shook him once, and he coughed up a spat of blood onto her. Akiva didn’t care and shook him again. “Who the  **fuck** sent you?” 

“Lord fuck yourself.” he spat more blood into her face, too much to ignore this time. She took one hand off of him and wiped her face,

 

“These wounds don’t look quite fatal, i bet if we got a healer in here soon you’d survive. Isn’t that right Emperor?” Ubunka paused for a moment not quite understanding at first before his eyes light up.

“Quite right, I have a troupe of them here in the palace.” he said after a few pants, then he snapped his finger and the footsteps of an attendant running off could be heard for a brief moment.

 

“So what do you say? You wanna die slow or do you wanna tell me who sent you?” She slapped him with the back of her large hand to emphasize the pain he would feel.

 

“Alright, fine. But if i tell you, you kill me right here.”

 

“That’s the proposal, now talk” she growled at him through gritted teeth. He coughed again but Akiva blocked it with her forearm.

 

“You wouldn’t know his name if i said it, and you wouldn’t know his family. His troupe of assassins and thieves have been hidden in the shadows of the world for centuries, yet he has impacted your lives more than you know.” Akvia cut him off with a punch,

 

“Tell me something useful or your torture begins now.”

 

“We serve the dread plague, the foulest of deaths itself, Izoul.” Several of the nobles gasped and started to discuss, “He is coming for you Za’laia.” She took his head in both hands and jerked, snapping the man’s neck with a quick motion and stood up.

 

“So Emperor would you still like to capture me? Or could we continue this meeting more civilly.” 


	21. Aboard the Twin Tusk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, Ehjean and the boys are back! what's this cooky kid up too now?

 

Ehjean 

24th of Delroth

Aboard the Twin Tusk

  
  


Eight days aboard the Twin Tusk, and Ehjean, Stygi and Tox were all ready to explode. Between the same five sea shanties, the same scowling faces, or the constant midnight orders being spat at the crew in fear of some sort of retribution, Ehjean was ready to be rid of these pirates for good. On the brightside Stygi and Tox had been getting along even better than Ehjean could have hoped for, usually the bratty adolescence of a Zubat would be too much to handle, but as usual Stygi was the expectation. Their cabin was below the deck and had all the leaking and stench to match, not to mention that he had to share it with the chef’s two apprentices Galf and Kigry. Only one upside was found during his journey, the food that the chef made was actually half decent. For the first few nights, while the vegetables they brought were still somewhat fresh, the dinners the chef had served were at the level of some higher end taverns Ehjean had been to. But as the days went on and the food became less and less fresh, the food he made had started to get worse and worse, he ate more pies than Ehjean wanted to eat in a half year.

 

“Good morning Ehjean!” Kigry shouted from her bunk, waking Ehjean up, just as he’d done every morning, not even sleep could save him from these days at sea.

 

“Good morning Kigry,” Ehjean said after a long pause and a silent sigh, Tox and Stygi groaned with dismay while they buried their faces deeper into the burlap sacks they slept upon. Kigry and Galf were stretching each other's arms and legs out on the floor, the waves were gentle and the sound of the sea was not but a dull hum. “You know the two of you have done the same stretching exercises every morning since we left Saltrock, but you’ve never asked me to join in.” 

 

“What? You think we want to be doin’ this shit every morning?” Galf asked abruptly turning his head to face Ehjean up in his bunk. Kigry chuckled a little, she was always in higher spirits than Galf was.

 

“Chef Yovis makes us, he says it’s important for a good cook to be well built and part of that is daily stretching.” They continued their exercise after a deep breath each.

 

“He makes you exercise? Huh.” Ehjean shook Stygi and Tox awake, “What else do you have to do to work under him.” Both of them groaned loud.

 

“Oh gods,”

 

“A whole lot! Becoming his apprentice was an ordeal in and of itself but-

 

“Listen if we told you all we had to do for him and ourselves everyday we’d be late for breakfast duty, in fact Kigry we should get going.”

 

“You’re right, well we’ll see you later Ehjean! I’ll save you some fresh bread.” The two of them got up off the floor and stretched out their arms and chests one last time, then they both tied their hair back with cloth and left the cabin. 

 

Ehjean flopped back down on his cloth bed and rubbed his eyes, the absolute worst part about being stuck on this boat was the boredom. Day in and day out of nothing to do, for the first few days he had practiced some water and storm magic-work off the sides of the boat, but even that got old after a while. While he would practice, dozens of the pirates came up to ask him questions, several of them were casters themselves and had much to ask about his spell work.

 

“Who taught you?!” One of them had asked.    

 

“No one, I learned I could do magic at a very young age and have done little else since.” This is an answer he had given probably a hundred times now but it was as true now as it was when he first thought of it.

Stygi and Tox had spent most of their free time messing with the sailors and with the captain, Tox had taken to Stygi’s tricky nature. All thought yesterday Ehjean had to put a stop to it when he found someone huddled under a small sets of stairs drooling and nearly unconsolable. When Ehjean finally got the lady to talk, she told him of horrors beyond description, this had happened before and usually he had ways to combat it, but his last mission had left them nearly out of supplies. Ehjean let Kigry know about the woman and several meals of hearty heart warming soup slowly healed her mental ailment. Now she, as well as almost every other crew member aboard the Twin Tusk, avoided Stygi and Tox like the plague.

 

The food bell sounded, it was the final nail in the coffin of their sleepy morning, the three of them collectively groaned one last time before getting out of the heap of burlap sacks that he called a bed. Ehjean threw on his brown shirt and jet black jacket and hopped off the mound, he stretched out his arms and back before a yawn sent tremors down his spine. The three of them made their way out of the cabin and towards the mess hall, it was on the next level up from them but the smells reached every inch of the ship. When he stepped inside he saw the still tired array of sailors noshing away at their bread and gray potato soup, he stifled a groan while Tox started sniffing around the floor for crumbs. Stygi and Ehjean walked over to sit at a mostly empty table and waited for their food, he hated having to be served his meals everyday but it was obviously part of chef Yovis’s list of tasks.

 

“Here you go Ehjean, some fresh bread for ya and some for you too Stgyi, where is your Zubat?” 

“Tox is around here somewhere,” He tore some bread off and reached for the goblet of water, Kigry had brought a tray with two bowls of soup, a large loaf of soft brown bread and a large tankard of water. “Trolling the floor for scraps probably.” he mumbled through a mouthful of bread, Kigry’s smile faded for a moment but neither Ehjean nor Stygi noticed through their eating.

“How's the food today?” Kigry said with renewed enthusiasm.

 

“Stygi seems to like it,” Ehjean was so sick of bread and starch soup in the morning he was just barely choking it down, all though it was spicier and more flavorful by a modicum amount. “Is there something different about it this time?”

 

“Yes! We had to de seed some Tyzez peppers to add a little kick.”

 

“But Tyzez peppers are sweet?” Ehjean had been eating the large bulbous orange and pink vegetables since he could remember, seeds and all.

 

“You’re right they are sweet, but we have been fermenting them in some garlic and other spices since before we left. Chef Yovis said it’s one his many secrets he’s learned cooking over the years.” The more Ehjean ate, the more the savory and sweet burn of the food improved, Kigry was obviously more proud of the food this morning.

 

“It is very good, the more i eat it the more the taste is uhm…. tasty.” He wanted to slap himself, he didn’t care about this lady at all yet he still could barely muster a real compliment.

“Wow, thank you i suppose i uh-

 

“KIGRY! WE NEED MORE TRAYS OUT NOW!”

 

“Yeah i should go.” she turned and left a little colder than Ehjean would have wanted but it didn’t really matter. Stygi’s bowl clattered against the table after he had drained it then he belched, Ehjean looked over his shoulder to make sure she was out of earshot.

 

“At least one of us like it, i mean this fermented Tyzez is really good but the food around it is just.” he shuddered but Stygi was clearly satisfied, Tox came flying over with a slightest bloated stomach looking lethargic. “My gods Tox, how much food did you find?” The little Zubat’s purple body flopped onto the table, his tongue hanging out of mouth. Ehjean and Stygi laughed at the little bat for a while, Ehjean filled up on more bread and water till he didn’t need to eat anymore. Slowly the sound in the room started to die down, Ehjean look up from a small flux of magic he was weaving with his hand to see the Captain had walked down the steps and into the hall.

 

“Everyone,” all the heads in the room turned to stare at Captain Helkavas, chef Yovis and his two assistants poked their heads out of the kitchen to see the short man. “We’re nearing northern Ovaquth, we’ll hit the shore within the hour and when we do, there will be no delay, we still have work to do here up north.” The crew started to laugh and jostle each other about, in a low rumble of shared intent. 

“Young master Ehjean,” The captain turned to look at his table in the back corner near the entrance to the kitchen and smiled, “Come to my cabin to discuss terms when you’re done, and bring your pokemon.” The short man started to laugh heartily, “Those two fucking kill me. Alright you slags put your fucking spoons down and get back to work. Load up the loot in crates and get the on deck.” He left back up the stairs, followed closely by his Delibird. The noise slowly returned to the room while everyone got up and started to file out, Ehjean hung back to avoid the wait.

 

“When did you guys make the captain laugh?” Tox and Stygi looked at each other with knowing mischief, then started to laugh themselves. “If this comes back to bite me i swear to fucking hell i will make you two morons hand peel a thousand Parasect spores, each.” they kept laughing as the three of the got up and and started to move towards the stairs. 

 

On their way up to the deck they passed by dozens of sailors clothed in medium furs carrying crates and barrels, the sun was deeply hidden behind a wall of cold stormy clouds and snow fell lighty. The captain’s deck was on the other side of ship between the two massive tusks that was its namesake. Tox loved to stretch his wings out and fly around every time they were out in the open, but he didn’t have all that much stamina yet so by the time Ehjean reached the Captain’s door Tox was tired out for the moment. He knocked on it but before his fist hit it a second time the captain shouted

 

“Get the fuck in here i haven’t got all day.” Ehjean pushed the door open to see Captain Helkavas sitting at his desk writing viciously on a piece of parchment. “Good, sit.” He pointed towards the chair in front of his desk without looking up.

 

“What can i do for you captain?” Ehjean said sitting down across from the short man and leaned back in the chair relaxed.

 

“You can start by explaining some things to me,” Helkavas didn’t look up from his parchment as he spoke.

 

“Some things?” Tox and Stygi were playing with the captain’s delibird just below the window to Ehjean’s right.

 

“Yes, for one, how a damned southerner like yourself found his way all the way up on Nolkuth, and my crew tells me you said that you were cave diving for flowers?” Ehjean laughed for a second.

 

“That makes it sound better, i like that.” He laughed for another second. “And are you saying us southerners don’t use boats?” The captain put his quill down and looked up from his parchment with an irritated expression.

 

“I’ve tolerated your insolence and cavalier attitude aboard my ship because i know what Gengar’s can do, and i know you are more powerful than you choose to let on. But you will answer me boy, if you put my crew in danger by coming aboard my ship.” his eyes rolled back and a tremor of rage swelled across his small body.

 

“Captain look, you’re threats are not going to phase me. I wouldn't even need Stygi’s help to take you all out if i needed to, but this is coming from nowhere? We’ve been on such good terms this whole journey, why the sudden hostility?” Ehjean was genuinely confused and needed to know.

 

“Are you daft boy?! I asked if my crew is in danger! I was able to push away my thoughts while at sea,” he opened a drawer from his desk and handed a wax sealed parchment over to Ehjean. “Late in the night someone gave me this letter, how they reached us here out in sea i do not know.” Ehjean took cute the seal with a quick charm and began to read.

 

_ To Captain Helkavas, _

_ Good evening sir, i’ll preface this letter with a quick reminder on our position over you. My man, a lower initiate of my order, has just delivered this letter to your ship in the middle of the night while you were still more than a dozen miles from the shore. Anywhere you and your might go, we will follow, thus it is in your best interest to take head of my word. We know Ehjean Vrentandri is aboard, and we know of the stolen goods you intend to sell. If you release the man to us upon landing you and your crew will not only be left alone but you will be handsomely rewarded. Three of my employee's will be waiting at the Twelve Eyed Toad in Bragnport, if my estimation is correct it’s near where you will be landing. However, if you are to refuse or to warn Ehjean of our knowledge you and your band of idiotic ocean dwellers will experience more horror and pain than any of you could imagine. _

_ Sincerely, Lord Izoul, The Dread Plague.  _

 

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You should have woken me up i could have done something sooner.”

 

“So there are people after you?! What did you do to them?” The captain was enraged, his white face was now bright red and he was standing from his seat, though it was not much of a difference.

 

“Look, i’ve done a lot of things, to a lot of people in my twenty one years on this fucking planet, i’m not gonna sit here and list em all till we figure out which one is most likely after me! We have to come up with a plan.”

 

“Gods i’m so fucked, why didn’t you tell me when you paid for a cabin that you’re apparently an imfoumas sorcerer.”

 

“Well what did you really expect dumbass?! I came out of the night with a bag of gold and paid for the first boat i came across.”

 

“It was a lot of gold! Do you know what kind of life i could give my crew with that?” The captain started to pace around his cabin as he spoke, the man was clearly flustered but Ehjean had been dealing with this kind of stress for nearly a decade.

 

“Okay okay, settle yourself Helkavas, your gonna burst, Clearly you and your men couldn’t take me into captivity, but just as clear you can not ignore this letter. I have no idea who this Lord Izoul is, but this letter is no idle threat.”

 

“So what you’re saying is that were fucked?! Is that what i’m

supposed to gleam from this damn nugget of wisdom?! Lord of the fucking sea and sk-”

“Shut the fuck up and let me think!” Ehjean stared at Stygi, Tox, and the captains Delibird while they batted around its egg across the wooden floor. Distraction always helped him think in dire situations and nothing was better than seeing his two favorite things in the world in such a good mood. But when Stygi caught his eye, the Gengar had a more than knowing look in his eye. Ehjean knew he had to think fast, but he knew that like always, Stygi was ready for anything. He thought of something quick,

 

“I need to go see how far we are from shore, Stygi and Tox let’s go.” The three of them flew through the door and to Ehjean’s dismay they were not even an hour from the docks, the details of Northern Ovaquath were now distinct and clear as day. Something along a cliff far to their right caught Ehjean’s eye, three figures standing on a large rock staring down at the Twin Tusk. Only a naive man would suspect these to be anything but more would be assassins, Ehjean didn’t want to have to cause a scene in this little port town but if he had too, he would. Stygi jumped up onto the railing and held a nearby rope in true pirate fashion. He stared at the figures on the cliff outside of town just as Ehjean had. Then turned to make eye contact with Ehjean and a wicked smile stretched across his wide purple face, Stgyi had a plan.


	22. Impromptu Performance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WOoahahwoowoahh! Another Ehjean chapter! This man is the kooookiest.

Ehjean  
24th of Delroth  
Impromptu performance 

 

Stygi jumped off the railing and started to sprint towards the stairs into the hull of the ship, Ehjean ran after him followed closely by Tox flapping behind him. The wicked grin on Stygi’s face remained as he leaped from spot to spot with sinful glee, the last time Ehjean saw Stygi act like this was before his evolution and honestly he didn’t know what was coming next. Stygi flew down the dark wooden stairs with large lofty bounds all the way to the bottom level, Ehjean and Tox made it down a few moments after to see Stygi rummaging around with some empty crates and boxes.

“Fuck are you up too?” Ehjean was sincerely lost, if Stygi’s plan was to hide in barrels and crates than he was a moron. “Stygi you remember these assassin’s are weavers themselves? The one was able to come up with a ward for my spell in like three seconds.” Stygi turned to look at him with the same evil grin as before, and a slight chill ran down his spine. “Alright buddy, dang.”   
He turned to scratch Tox on top of his head who happily growled in return. Stygi walked over to them with a glowing dark hand clutched, behind him three barrels floated at head level and he laughed but this time with more menace in his voice. Ehjean followed Stygi up the stairs while the barrels he held with his magic floating behind, they reached the deck and Stygi started to climb jump from rope to rope on his way up to the crows nest. Ehjean looked across towards the cliff to see the silhouettes no longer there. 

“What in gods name is he doing?” Captain Helkavas asked storming up next to Ehjean, they had never stood this close to each before. Ehjean had to look down to see his face being a full foot taller.

“Haven’t the fucking foggiest captain, hope you don’t need those barrels though, just in case.” Ehjean looked up from the captain and his elaborate hat to see what Stygi might be up too.  
“Oh i the barrels i can do without, but the tip of the mast is an extremely important part of any ship. I hope your Gengar knows what he’s doing.”

“Yeah so do i, they must have sent more competent members of their order this time. The last three were kind of idiots, and the three before that were not the best either.” Stygi began to spit thick black smog into the barrels small openings and then corked them. When all three were corked and stuffed with smog the plump purple Gengar hopped down back to the deck next to Ehjean. “Alright, great now we got some barrels? Styg i really don’t get it. If this was supposed to be a smoke screen then why did you leave them up there, and also i thought you were better than that.” Stygi rolled his eyes but his wicked grin remained. “Well genius, what the fuck’s the plan then?” Stygi’s eyes rolled over and glowed a bright pink, after a beat Ehjean’s eye followed suit. Stygi projected his plan into Ehjean’s mind, the feeling was unpleasant to say to least but familiar all the while. He saw Stygi’s twisted idea and shuddered internally as the vision was ending, “Hmm its good, but how do we avoid the town? I’m not gonna kill everyone here over three more assassins.” 

“What in bloody hell’s name are you talking about? You’re going to murder an entire town?!” Captain Helkavas asked half furious and half scared out of his mind. 

“Captain, what did i just say. I said i’m not going too, didn’t i? Now get your ship into port and start doing your dealings as planned alright?” 

“But.. what are you going to do with the barrels?!?” The captain’s voice was so desperate for answers Ehjean felt almost bad for the man.

“Don’t worry they won’t stay up there too long, just don’t tell anyone about them it will weaken the effects of Stygi’s charm. Your crew doesn’t even realize they’re there so just forget about them, you and i won’t see each other after this if all goes according to Stygi’s plan.” Ehjean didn’t feel sentimental at all about the man, but leaving without a goodbye was rude to someone who housed him for over a weak.

“You really trust that little Gengar don’t you Ehjean?”

“Captain, if you knew half of what i knew about Stygi, you too would trust every single one of your crew’s lives with him. I am truly lucky to have found him.” And with that, Ehjean turned from the captain and set off towards the the crew still carrying around supplies. The mast’s of the Twin Tusk had already been lowered and the boat was being pulled to the dock by a few of Bragnport’s Walrein. Ehjean smacked his hip where his wand was sheathed and conjured a hood for his clothes, Stygi had been keeping Tox and himself warm with wisps that danced around them slowly. The crew was dressed in their winter attire but were clearly unaffected by the cold and damp in the air, Ehjean and his pokemon quickly blended in with the work around them while the boat was being tied to shore. 

Ehjean didn't know where the assassin's watched from but his senses told him to be cautious. After the ship was tied down and the anchor was dropped, the crew tied down the wooden walked way and began to load their cargo onto the shore. Ehjean quickly grabbed the edge of a larger crate with a few other sailors and carried it across the walkway. Stygi and Tox followed Ehjean close as they could, once on the docks, the energy and movement around them only increased.

“Tox,” Ehjean whispered close, “Fly around and look for anything off.” Tox flew off above the heads of the mass of moving bodies. Several vessels had come into shore this morning and the sounds of the market several blocks away we're nothing less than an uproar. Bragnport absolutely dwarfed the little town of Saltrock back on Nolkuth, Tox made his way back to Ehjean’s side and shook his head in defeat. He stroked the little bat between the ears as they fought their way through the crowd towards the corner of a nearby wooden shop. The three of them ducked under the awning and huddled behind a small cobblestone wall to think. Ehjean wasn't worried about their position or about what he might have to do to get the three of them out of this unscathed. He decided on a quick disguising charm and with a small blue flash from his wand the three of them changed shape and emerged from the awning anew. His charm took shape of an old salty merchant pushing a cart of root vegetables, an easy enough cover as vegetables we're the easiest to conjure for him. Stygi and Tox had to remain just in front of him for the charm to hold but Tox seemed to grasp the concept instantly. They walked up a small ramp in the stone with an open metal on a small unmanned gatehouse and into a much wider and even busier street. 

They kept a good pace as to draw little attention to themselves, thankfully only one woman came up to ask for some veulls root. Ehjean didn't know where he was going but he knew this was absolutely one of the worst places for this battle to go down. If Bragnport suddenly erupted in violence then all of the Skvelcy soldiers and ships would be in North Ovaquth in a matter of days, they couldn’t afford to be chased down by an entire millitary along with these fucking assassins. The long stone street turned a round corner ahead of them where the crowd seemed to be ever so slightly thinner, the three of them walked in their disguise fought through the crowd slowly feeling worrisome. Ehjean leaned down and whispered to his two purple pokemon,

“Even with this spell i still feel nervous, Tox keeps your ears peeled, uh, open.” Stygi chuckled low in his raspy voice but Tox’s ears perked up and he started to sniff. They rounded the corner where a small contingent of women and jinxes in thick white fur robes walked through the streets in a rush. They wore fancier attire than the other townsfolk and were adorned in crystalline jewelry, they flew up the street hushing to each other with anxious expressions. Ehjean decided to follow them giving himself a task, no matter what it was, a task always made him feel better about dire situations. Stygi and Tox were keen to his intention and picked up the pace in unison with Ehjean, the ladies turned another corner and left sight for the moment. They picked up their pace again while staying as nonchalant as possible until they too rounded the corner, the street opened up with just as much activity as the first but he spotted the ladies pushing through the crowd. They made their way across the street weaving through and around the busy patrons, he made sure to stay a good ten yards away from them but clearly the women were to enthralled with their business to notice. He made a snap decision and rubbed his eye as if he was scratching it, casting a quick charm over them.

“Yaelsha please! You’ve haven’t said a word to us since we abruptly left tea, and you’re walking so fast we can barely keep up.” The shortest woman on the right said briskly but still under her breath.

“If you don’t want to come then turn back and finish you’re tea, Helenna. I have urgent business to attend to.” The tall woman in front spoke with a sense of desperation.

“We understand that Yealsha but you’re scaring us!” The middle woman said just as urgently as the first. “You act as if we recognize not you’re importance to our beloved Bragnport, but they way you left, the way you got up out of the blue like that you nearly made a mess of the whole table.” The tall ornately dressed woman in her large fur coat and hat spun round and Ehjean spotted her face for a half second before meandering around pretending to get townsfolk attentions.

“You may know of my position ladies but you do not know of the lengths i go to in order to keep us safe. I don’t have the time to explain much of anything to you right now, so please go back to the Helenna's and wait for me.” The lead woman was built thick and fed well but clearly kept active, her skin was a smooth even white and her striking brown eyes revealed great deal of stoic distress.

“Of course Yaelsha. Come on Gea lets-  
“Leave your Jinx’s ladies, i may need them.” Yaelsha turned back down the street and strode briskly on, followed by the three pokemon. Ehjean worked his way around the busy crowd to follow closely behind, a large man followed by his winter bread vigoroth accidently bumped into him and scowled.

“Watch where the fuck you’re going old man, people are actually working here you waste of space.” His big ugly mug was surrounded by scruffy uneven sideburns and at least three scars, but the unwanted contact was not enough to break their spell. Though were the situation less dire Ehjean may have killed the man over this. The woman almost left Ehjean’s sight after his brief encounter but he spotted the bright plumage of her hat turning down a side street. He pushed his pace up to make sure he could spot her, his two friends sped up in turn.

“Hot dumplings! Chicken and veg dumplings get em here.” A worker behind his stand shouted out to the crowd in an attempt to draw in business, Ehjean’s stomach growled in protest but he had to ignore his urge. The tall woman strode confidently up to the entrance of a hole in the wall tavern, Ehjean made his way over with caution still feeling a pain in his stomach. The entrance bell rang dully and Ehjean stepped into the dimly lit room, they remained as the old man disguise as he walked up to the barkeep. 

“One ale please, good sir,” His old man voice was foreign and not like his smooth and even southern accent.

“Three gold,” The barkeep snapped at him grabbing a glass from above him, Ehjean conjured three fake gold pieces and gave it to the man. He took the drink and looked around the bar for his target, he saw her talking emphatically with a short dirty looking man holding a broom. Ehjean, Tox, and Stygi all got as close as they could in their disguise. 

“Charles quiet, i have little time for your prattling. Take me to the basement at once.”  
“But m’lady! You still haven't said what’s going on, and i don’t think your Jinxes will much enjoy it in the basement. It’s more than a little dirty down there.” the little man grabbed at his back nervously avoiding her eye line, not a difficult task with such a height difference.

“Charles calm yourself! All i know now is there are powerful presences in Bragnport this morning, my mind is abuzz with all this magic in the air.” She sniffed the air with her decidedly small noses, her senses may not have been so keen because Ehjean was not thirty feet away from her. The two of them walked around the edge of the bar while the little rat faced man fumbled with a ring of keys on his belt, the three Jinxes followed suit. Ehjean was in a conundrum now, he couldn’t just outright follow them it would draw all the attention in the world, but if he let them go the three of them would be a sitting duck here in this dingy tavern. His mind raced while Stygi and Tox looked at him nervously, time seemed to slow down as they took the last few steps towards the door. Ehjean almost shouted out aloud when the idea came to him but at the same time he wanted to smack himself in the face for not thinking of it till now, but he had to act fast. He huddled his old disguised form closer to the wall and in a flash replaced the spell with one over just Tox, the little bat’s shape shifted again into a fly. He buzzed around in protest but Ehjean ignored him and drew a glyph in the air casting a listening charm over his insectile form.

“Tox, go quick follow them and listen to what she says. We’ll be able to hear.” Tox buzzed around for a second clearly still angry then darted towards the door to the basement as it was closing. He just barely managed to slip inside before it slammed shut, Ehjean and Stygi slipped into a booth in the corner and leaned in close over his wand. Neither of them made a sound as a faint buzzing came from the tip of his black wood wand, the two voices slowly came into the fold.

“Charles I'm worried, Bragnport is supposed to be the safest place up here in Ovoquath. But these people, they are more dangerous than I can imagine.” Her voice was softer and betrayed more emotion than before.

“M’lady do you have any idea why this is happening? And just who are these people!” Charles’s squeaky voice whispered and cracked.

“As I said before Charles, I don't know. I don't who they are or why they are here, and your incessant questioning isn’t helping me think. Now quick find me that old lanturn and keep quiet.”

“Of course m’lady.” the little man’s voice was wrought with dismay, as if he had never heard the lady act like this. The sound of his rummaging around in the dim light was clearly heard through the charm, Ehjean made sure to look over his shoulder and around at the room every few seconds. 

“Ah good, give it here.” She snapped as the sound of a metal rattling swung across Tox in fly from, the sound of her thick boots stomped up the stairs in a matter of seconds, the woman was more determined now. Tox followed closely behind but Ehjean was starting to worry about him, it was cold up here for a fly even if he did compensate for it with his spell. The door from the basement flung open and the two of them walked out in a huff, Tox buzzed over to them and directly up to Ehjean’s nose.

“Alright, alright damn buddy i’m changing you back,” he whispered cupping Tox around his hands and bringing his close before breaking the spell on him. Tox emerged as his batty form looking annoyed but relieved. The tall woman and the janitor had reached the entrance to the tavern and she turned to face him, put her hand on the little man's shoulder and gave him a knowing look. He nodded and then walked back towards his mop and bucket in the corner, the barkeep remained unphased as he wiped down glass mugs behind his bar. Ehjean drained his glass and got up modestly, stretching his arms up high and leaning back casually before walking towards the door followed closely by his two companions, normally he’d be worried about entering the building as someone and leaving as someone else but this place may as well been run by ghosts. The bell rang on his way out and Tox flew slightly out in front of them clearly ready for the cold fresh air, Ehjean looked around quick hoping to see the large hat of the tall woman. 

“Fuck.” He said firmly and much too loud for his surroundings drawing dozens of eyes, a slight hint a panic rose up inside him, any of those eyes could be one of his pursuers. Making a snap decision he turned and walked down the east side of the street headed towards nothing, usually he would just track her essence but there was neither the time nor space to do it safely. Stygi and Tox were on either side of him not letting much space between the three of them, they knew he was tense and seemed to act with more posie than usual. He was headed towards a large active town circle almost a hundred yards ahead of them, no idea what he was doing. Stygi’s plan turned out to just be a parting gift for the Twin Tusk incase the assassins went after them, and his next plan had failed, not to mention the fact that this woman was apparently the warden of magic in Bragnport. 

The center square of this town would at least provide him with cover and maybe a place to get some food, his grumbling stomach made this ordeal all the worse. The further he went east the more often he saw wealthy looking people in large ornate fur coats with companion Jinxes in their own coats, clearly it was a status symbol for the upper class here on the northern coast. 

“Fried turkey! Sweet and spicy fried turkey wings fresh here!” Another merchant called out from his booth, Ehjean was too tempted to ignore. He pulled some of the remaining real gold he had nicked from several of the pirates on the Twin Tusk and walked over to the white wooden stand.

“Two wings please,” he slapped down four coins and looked over his shoulder.  
“Something wrong there kid?” The aged man said past his mustaches and grease burns.

“Oh uh no, i’ve just never been to Bragnport before, It’s a busy place.” Ehjean said confidently, the best way to lie was to tell a different truth.

“I wouldn’t expect as much, you’re a long way from the south son.” He laughed and handed over the two glazed wings wrapped in parchment.

“That i am, thank you for the food.” Ehjean took the two wrapped wings and the three of them continued into the crowd. He tore into the first wing and handed the other over to Stygi,   
“Share it with Tox, if things go bad we may not be eating real food for a while.” He spoke low to them still cautious as both of them took a bite of the delicious meat, he wasn't that used to turkey, being from the south and he nearly cursed the world for missing out.   
The crowd got thicker and harder to get through, he sincerely hoped these assassin's we're not interested in civilian casualties. As they neared the center of the town circle, mouths full of delicious turkey, Ehjean’s anxiety about his pursuers slowly faded to the back of his mind. Several people gave the three of them looks as they walked, probably due to his lighter leather and cotton clothes and his two pokemon being fully exposed, or it could be because of his dark skin and jet black hair. But the most likely cause of all of the onlookers was Stygi, Gengars, like many ghost pokemon, have a dark stigma around them and Gengar was the most notorious. Ehjean and Stygi had been plagued by these looks even since their early days in Tior, when Stygi was still a ghastly and Ehjean wasn’t big or powerful enough to protect himself. He looked down at Stygi tearing into the last bit of meat on his turkey wing and felt a hearty wave of appreciation for his friend. The citizens of Bragnport around them were all happy and content on this brisk morning, the mood was infectious but Ehjean did not let his mind fully slip into comfort.

“You there, southerener.” A tall wealthy looking couple approached followed by a pair of prim and proper looking Vigoroths with their own fur coats. He decided in a second that it would be more suspicious to wave them off then to talk.

“Yes? How can i help you?” Ehjean stopped and turned to face them, Stygi and Tox barely paid attention while gnawing away at their meat.

“First my good man you can tell my wife here how the hell you aren’t shivering right now?” They were both good looking, in the sort of way rich people always seemed to be. Trimmed jaws and perfect hair, but neither of them showed any personality as they stood before him.

“Stygi here has us surrounded by a few wisps, keeps us warm up here in the north.” Ehjean patted the top of his Gengar’s head as he spoke.

“Wisps? How fascinating? You know many of us have never seen a Gengar before, in fact we have many tales about them up here.” The woman leaned down to get a good look at Stygi, “But they are nothing like the stories, where are his fangs and horns? Why is he not drooling viscous poison and trying to eat me?” Stygi turned to look Ehjean with an expression he hadn’t seen before.

“Well i, i uh, i’m not sure?” he was fighting back a hearty laugh now. “Gengar don’t really have horns or fangs you know, they are all just like stygi here. Expect some are much larger and smaller.”

“Really?!” the two of them exclaimed in unison, “Well don't you feel silly Greyla?” The man said to his wife as they started to walk away completely unphased by this contact. Ehjean blinked twice and then they continued on through the crowd of happy wealthy townsfolk. They passed by a large booth of barrels filled with large rolled up paintings and other artwork, his eye caught on a piece of two knights on Rapidashes jousting. A chill ran down his back and he felt a pair of eyes suddenly snap to him. Behind him, somewhere in the crowd was one of his pursuers. Stygi felt it too, he looked up at Ehjean with a serious expression and burned up the bone in his hand with dark flames. His big eyes were flitting back and forth widely. Tox remaniend unaware and stared happily at all sights and smells around him, Ehjean and Stygi’s steps started to become quieter and quieter as he whispered a spell silent spell blurring them into the crowd beyond reality. Stygi went a step further and slipped into a nearby shadow of a few scholars appreciating an art stand, he disappeared entirely from view by Ehjean knew that he would remain nearby. 

Ehjean stepped out of the main strip of stands and inbetween a large tree and a four post tent, he ducked behind a stack of empty crates next to a pile of discarded vegetable scraps. The smell was a bit distracting but Ehjean ignored it and wash of dark red energy washed over his eyes. He began at a new spell pouring more time and effort into his channel than he’s had to do in years, knowing Stygi would keep him safe he spent several minutes on this spell. This would be an old play, he hadn’t pulled this one out in a while but it was a good way to dispatch these hopefully higher level assassins. His channel wore off once he was satisfied with the result and stepped back into the crowd this time with the confidence and presence of traveling king.

“Good people, good Bragnportian’s, come round’ and let me brighten your day with a few tricks of my wand.” He slapped the side of his thigh where the wand was holstered and sent it through a small portal that appeared just before him, he snatched it on it’s way up and hopped forward clicking his heels together. A few dozen saw this and clapped politely but clearly they were all yet to be impressed.   
“I can see you are all good people of great of high taste and status, i mean just look at you.” Ehjean walked up to a beautiful older woman in the front and took her hand gently as he spoke, she blushed and surpassed a small laugh. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand and decided he didn’t actually need much to captivate these people, wealth was clearly their primary interest. His spell was not but smoke and mirrors but it happened in less than a second, five enormous cut diamonds rose from the ground and spun slowly emanating a faint glow of luminescent light. The crowd let loose small cheers and several awes, he was looking for any of them that didn’t react to this spectacle, but none were found. He snapped loud and made the sound echo out into the entire court, the diamonds split apart into hundreds of smaller apple sized gems and gently floated into the hands of the now nearly two hundred viewers.

“How rude of me,” He bowed low and summoned several tall rows of wooden seats in clearings behind the crowd, murmurs and gasps erupted as the seats were filled. The plaza he stood in was large and wide. “How do you all like you stones?” Many more cheered and clapped, Ehjean nodded slowly his smile wide and charismatic. The diamonds began to glow brighter and more brilliant each a different shade of a wondrous color. The cheers and awes continued growing louder and drawing attention from outside the circle on this side of town, Ehjean felt the same presence from before but now thrice as strong. They were all watching now, he waved his arms over the crowd and the gems all stopped on a deep dark purple and shot a beam in an arc up above Ehjean holding his wand. “You all have some guests here in bragnport tonight, and I’m not just talking about me and my little Zubat here.” dozens of them laughed despite him not saying anything worthy of it, “No, you have some other foreigners here in your lovely port city.” They all oooed loudly and looked around at each other with several words whispered back and forth between the enthralled spectators. Ehjean chuckled for a seconds before he spoke again, his voice enhanced by magic. “Indeed, say has anyone seen my Gengar? I’m sure some of you saw me walking with him on my way in, Stygi? Oh Stygi?” A dark line tore through the clear gray light of the afternoon and widening to a significant hole from which Stgyi stepped out grinning wide to a medley of claps, cheers, and gasps. 

Stygi spoke to Ehjean through his mind as he had done a hundred times before in the basic descriptive manner he was familiar with. Stygi showed him the location of three assassins in the crowd and the location of the apparent Hypno in dark robes they had with them, this would complicate things but if Stygi and Tox could handle the Hypno he could take the assassins easily. He sent this thought to Stygi who in turn sent the thoughts to Tox, “Ladies and gentleman,” he waved his wand over Tox still darting around him and caused him to fade into ethereal form, the clap for this was much softer than before but he didn’t care much for his mock performance now. He wanted to make himself seem vulnerable, he wanted to bait out a large attack. He summoned some dancing multi colored light elementals and altered the perception of space between him and all the spectators so he could think. They clearly were waiting for an opportunity but how long would Ehjean have to keep up this facade, how much time and energy would he have to spend for this to work? His question was answered when a member of the audience shouted aloud a simple request,

“Oi kid, enough with the lights and tricks. Show us some real magic!” A bruff looking man said aloud through his thick black beard. Ehjean laughed to himself as his retort and plan came together,

“You’re right, these are not but illusions. However illusionary magic was one of original studies, so i’m more than a bit adept in them. Did you all know you are actually sitting on wind streams? They are guised as these bleachers, but alas you all want to see some real magic don't you?” The crowd cheered and whistled with enthusiasm, they wanted to see a spectacle and Ehjean wanted to see if these assassins were as adept as the last. He clapped his hands together holding his wand firm with a hook thumb. Three small storm clouds formed each aimed at one of the marked targets, each sent a bolt of lighting at an assassin and Ehjean signaled to Stygi. Two of them simply blocked the bolts with a half assed ward, but the one on the right held his hands out and absorbed the essence with a small summoned cyclone. He sent the energy back at Ehjean with an arcing wave of conjured spears from above, the others sent simple steady streams of fire and acid at Ehjean. In the quarter second before their spells hit, Ehjean blinked two steps in front of them lead mage and pulled a sword from thin air guting the man. Stygi stepped through the shadows behind the man who had cast flames, Ehjean teleported again to the last one. At the same time the two of them clawed their enemies apart with shadow. Tox had flew like an arrow with his fangs pointed out and the Hypno who had cast a bean at Ehjean. 

The crowd around just managed to start shouting and breaking into panic as the last of Ehjean’s enchantment was poured into one last group blink. He got the three of them to the southeastern gate of the town, completely deserted as he was sure everyone in Bragnport was moving towards the courtyard. Ehjean whipped his hood over his head and his wand took the form of a walking stick as the three of them started off south into Ovaquth.


	23. Speed of Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter has a new lady in it. And a perspective from somewhere else in the world

Esperi Baile Ve’galuu, Captain of the Heeja Riders

25th of Delroth

Speed of Heat

  
  


The flowers around her of all shapes and colors swayed with the gentle breeze as Esperi took a long deep breath of fresh beautiful smelling air. Every Step she took forward rippled through the grass and flowers as if they were on water, she turned her head to look behind her where her faithful Ninetails, Rookah, was  dancing around with pure joy. Her smooth bronze colored skin glowed in the twilight, around her, figures manifested from the bright sun beams hitting around her. They formed into familiar faces and fellow Fajrakans and the dreamlike ecstasy she felt intensified, they glided towards her softly and Esperi opened her arms for embrace. 

**Tick tick tick**

She was awoken from her dream sharply by a messenger wingull pecking at the window, a scroll tied to its strapped sash. The window was directly above her bed so ignoring was futile, she groaned loud and threw her warm blanket off of her with force. She leaned up and put her two bare feet on the cold carved stone floor and attempted to rub the tired off of her face. Esperi stood up after another three taps on the window and she grabbed a dried fish skin from her bedside drawer and opened the window.

 

“Here you go asshole,” she tossed the fish skin up to the little white bird and untied the scroll from his sash. She unrolled it and yawned deep stretching her arms up, her robe fell off and small breeze blew across her breasts sending a shiver down her spine. She walked over to her clothes chest as she began to reed.

 

_ “Captain Ve’Galuu, your presence is needed near Goldloche. A few of our new Kingdra have spotted a contingent of Equaldren soldiers scouting the woods past our borders, I will be sending you and Jheika to support the troops we have there. Leave as soon as you get this and meet Jheika at the west river docks. Once at Goldloche you will await further instructions. _

_ Go with Haste Esprei---  _ **_Grand General Ika._ **

 

It only took her four short minutes to get her riding gear and weapon belts on, she took a plump orange from a wooden bowl on her table as she left her house. Esperi dashed down the spiral staircase towards Rookah’s custom stable, before going to wake her beloved mount she walked over to her weapon rack and grabbed a curved sword and a bow. She hit the outside of the building with her scabbard before tying it to her belt, Rookah groaned as she woke from the noise.

 

“Yeah i don’t like it either girl, but General Ika’s orders may as well be our own divine law now that i’m captain. So get your lazy pale ass up.” She grabbed the carved hard leather saddle from a hook on the wall and a small blanket from a stack in the corner. Rookah stood up and stretched her whole body out long and deep, her chest nearly touching the soft grass floor. She shook out and licked her lips a few times before turning to drink from her water trough, as the Ninetails leaned over to drink Esperi began to saddle her friend up.

 

They burst through the swinging wood door on the far side of the little wood and metal stables and set off towards the main streets of the Yassiev. Rookah was clearly still a bit groggy in the dim light of the early morning, she wasn’t running her hardest but Esperi couldn’t blame her at this hour. She thought about and hoped-for desperately some sustenance once they reached the docks, her mind sank into a endless pit of tantalizing thoughts about eggs, sausage, fried kulka peppers and onion, potato hash, fresh buns with butter and peach jam. Without realizing she had crossed the first large bridge and was halfway through a residential block, her stomach grumbled and she silently cursed the Equaldrens in her head for making her be awake in this hour. Rookah had finally woken up all the way and was now running at her full sprint, the wind ripped across Esperi’s face. She pulled up her wind guard just under her eyes and clipped it behind her tied back and braided hair. Her dark blue and black hard leather armor was designed for comfort and warmth at these speeds, yet still strong enough to derelict powerful blows. 

 

Rookah made it to the foot of a large staircase and started to climb several steps at a time, the sound of damned off water above her was a sign that they were nearing the Zula river. A shred of dismay washed over her as she saw the tops of the dock buildings came into sight at the edge of her sigh. It was too early for a reconnaissance mission and she was getting more and more suspicious that there would be no food. The last long stretch of city street took them a few minutes to traverse, Rookah started to slow down as a few dock workers came into sight.

 

“Hail Captain, how’d ya sleep?” one of the said as he approached grabbing a strap on Rookah’a saddle, leading her into a large archway near the water. Esperi jumped off of Rookah’s back swiftly before speaking to him.

 

“My sleeping was fine but it was disrupted far to early.” She tried to keep the salt out of her voice but was not entirely successful.

 

“Aye, i bet even the whiscash are sleeping at this hour m’lady” Esperi’s skin crawled at hearing this but she didn’t say anything to the man as he lead Rookah onto the barge in the boathouse. A few other workers were loading bundles of arrows and crates of water skins onto the back of the barge, but still no food in sight. Her stomach roared at her in response, she gripped it hard and tried not to sigh loud enough for anyone to hear. There was a weird feeling in the air, being up an active so much early than the rest of the world, like the gods themselves were asleep.

 

“Captain Esperi!” She whipped her head around to see Jheika and her own Ninetails running up the last length of the street towards them. “Hello captain, how’re you this morning?” Jheika dismounted and walked at her with an outstretched forearm, Esperi clasped it and their eyes met.

 

“Ugh, how do you always have this endless energy Jheika? What dark arts do you practice?” she said laughing a little, another dock worker lead Jheikas’ Ninetails away to the barge to join Rookah.

 

“Oh you know just the normal necromancy we were so warned about,” she giggled back in her deep voice, Jheika was an inch or two shorter than Esperi but much broader. Her thick shoulder muscles were always the most impressive of all the Heeja, and this morning she looked even stronger. Her hair was tied back in a long thick braid hiding her natural curls, her large signature hammer was slung across her back emphasizing her strong appearance.

 

“So, Equaldrens huh?” Esperi said as they walked towards the barge, her stomach still in protest.

 

“Yeah, it’s been a quite some time since our countries had any contact, and now their scouting our border? Not to mention all the different letters Ika has been pouring over, something odd is afoot,” Jheika was right, things had been tense for a while now but this was the first action they had taken since Esperi’s promotion to Captain.

 

“Have you ever been out to Goldloche?”

 

“Yeah, my mother used to take the family out there to see where she grew up, it’s quite nice, a little hilly and wet but it’s nice.” Jheika said clearly dipping into her memories.

 

“Huh, i’ve not yet been. I assume this was before you began your training?”

 

“Oh yes, this was long ago. I wonder who the warder is out there.” Esperi had been wondering this as well, usually the different wardens were quite well known throughout the Fajraka but neither of them had heard anything of this woman, and this was more troubling than soothing. The two of them stepped into the boat house where, to Esperi’s dismay, there was still no food to be seen, her stomach rumbled again.

 

“Fuck i wish i had grabbed some more food than that orange, i’m damned starving.” Esperi spoke low so just Jheika could hear, if word got back to Ika about them complaining before an assignment there would be serious hell to pay.

 

“Yeah i’m with you there captain, i was hoping they would have had some food here for us. Some dried meat or eggs or something.” Jheika clasped her own stomach and they shared a brief moment and look of comedic despair. They boarded the long flat vessel and made their way to the bow to lean on the thick wood railing, the fresh morning air was helping her forget about her hunger pains.

 

“How is Nadra on the water?” Esperi asked without looking away from the woods surrounding the west side of the city.

 

“He’s alright, but gods help our ears if there's any thunder.” They both laughed for a few seconds, before returning to the silence of the pre-dawn. Esperi didn’t mind the silence, listening to the water against the bottom of the barge was cathartic in its own way. She was skeptical of anything coming from this mission, but the back of her mind teemed with a storm of potential thoughts and anxiety.

 

“What do you think this could mean? What are these Equaldrens doing across our border scouting?” Esperi said after another minute of silence.

 

“Dunno. I just wish general Ika was more transparent with us, I mean you’re now the Captain of the Heeja. Not five years ago she was where you are now, yet she still keeps so much from us, we could help her. Share some of the great burden she carries around, if she would just fucking talk to us.” Jheika talked low, they still didn’t want to be overheard but clearly she had been wanting to say this for while. Esperi understood this sentiment, between Ika’s stress and the weight of every decision she had to make, the Heeja were all feeling the aftermath of the pressure on her. 

 

“It’s probably nothing, the Equaldrens i mean. I bet they are simply here tracking down some old artifact or maybe they’re after a convict of some sort.”

 

“I don’t know, from Ika’s letter it sounds like this could be a military operation, it sounds like its more organized.” Jheika clutched at her stomach again, 

 

“This is getting ridiculous, we're not gonna be in a state to fight without getting some food.” Esperi said hoping to alleviate some tension.

 

“Oh come on, after our training we would have to go without food for at least two more days before that.” 

 

“I know, even as i said it i thought back to those horrible weeks we spent  _ conditioning. _ ” Esperi said the last word with a splash of vinegar.

 

“Ah! Just the mention of that word sends me back, when i’m the one doing the training i’m just gonna call it what it is. Starvation training.” Jheika said with some life returning to her voice, the barge finally started to move. The dock workers slapped the wooden hull and waved it off, Esperi and Jheika were accompanied on the barge by three of the workers. The boat slowly picked up speed while the river widened to its natural state, Esperi looked over the side into the water when she heard some slight splashing. In the water swimming alongside them were two full grown Golducks. 

 

“Looks like we have even more back up.” she nodded at the water when Jheika looked over. 

 

“Thank the gods, you know how terrified i was at the thought of potentially going into a battle with the Equaldren’s without a water pokemon? You know as well as i do that the rumors about their Rapidashes are not far from the truth.”

 

“You know i heard their princess is quite the sorceress, they say she’s the best the countries seen in a thousand years.” Esperi said not leaving any time between their words.

 

“I wonder what Beytha will have to say about that, being our resident best caster in Fajraka.” The two of them continued on talking about the various members and strengths of the Heeja for a good half hour, the boat moved across the calm river water with ease. The next few hours of traveling were filled with scattered conversation and several visits to their two Ninetails, they mainly stayed on the deck as to keep a wary eye over the shore far to the south. The Golsworth river was a good twenty miles wide at certain points but they always stayed in sight of the shore, the two of them found some day old bread and were able to quell the pains in their stomachs for a while. Esperi loved watching the landscape change and the hills roll during their trip, the patches of trees that spread across shore line painted the land a majestic swatch of dozens of shades of green. The base of the southernmost Gylis mountains could just barely be seen under the soft gray cloudline, Esperi wondered if she would ever get to visit them without the constraints of her title and position behind her.

 

“You ever regret becoming a Heeja?” Esperi said, Jheika looked over to her and raised her thick well trimmed brow.

 

“No? What makes you say that… captain.” Her tone was less than subtle but to no offense.

 

“It’s just that, i’m already twenty five years of age, and i’ve been stuck in and around the capital nearly the entire time.”

 

“Esperi, i hate to burst your bubble but literally thousands of woman all across Fajraka would kill for your position and your opportunities.”

 

“Yeah i know, but haven’t you ever wanted to go to the mountains? Explore the wilds with your Ninetails away from civilization for more than just a week?”

 

“No, i like slow cooked meats and warm beds, i like to drink heartily and fuck pretty girls at the taverns. You wanna go out into the wild for what? So you can hunt for your food and not bathe for days at a time.” Jheika laughed and clapped Esperi on the back, it would have knocked the wind out of someone not as used to her force as Esperi was. “You have a good life girl, what don’t you like about it?”

 

“Nothing! I love my life, i’m just so sick and tired of the same sights and smells day after day. I need to travel, i wanna visit the sun blessed Uvhakai, i wanna see the Searing Bluff and sail across the unending sea.”

 

“Why do we all still call it that? We all know it just goes back around to the other side of the world, sure it’s big and all but how about a new name already.” Jheika’s indomitable pleasant spirit had always brightened Esperi’s mood but today it just made her want to slump back into bed, the gap between them mentally right now was a little too much to bridge. She turned back around to soak up more of the beautiful scenery around them, she sighed deep and leaned down onto her folded arms. Nearly another hour passed before the far western boat house on the edge of Goldloche came into sight, they looked at each other and Jheika shrugged.

 

“I don’t see anything yet, good sign or bad?” 

 

“Neutral, or no sign i guess. I’m still hoping for some more food to be blunt with you.” Jheika gripped the head of her hammer in subconscious response, Esperi cracked a half smile.

“There she is, Captain Esperi after you.” She gestured towards the covered back of the ship where their foxes were kept. Esperi and Jheika sat with their Ninetails inside the tall wooden room, both of them were lying chin down on the hay lined floor looking content. They sat with their mounts for a while before the the distinct sounds of the dock came into the fold, the four of them stood up and stretch almost simultaneously before walking out onto the deck. 

 

Across the bridge, where two of the sailors were unloading a few crates of arrow bundles, Esperi noticed a woman who must have been the warden. Holding a carved wooden cane she looked over her own dock workers tying up the barge and taking the cargo to a nearby warehouse. She had a murkrow perched on her shoulder looking tired, she noticed the two of them standing with their Ninetails and waved them over. Her gray hair was pulled back in a tight woven tail and her frown wrinkles were as defined as a woman twice her age. Jheika and Esperi both mounted up and jumped across the small gap between the ship and the dark wooden docks, they strut up to the woman and dismounted before giving a salute across the chest.

 

“Mornin’ warden!” Jheika said with the same bubbly attitude as before, she was skirting the line with the woman’s authority on purpose.

 

“My name is warden Wolkner and you will address me as such, thank you for coming here at such an early hour.” Esperi had to fight her left brow from shooting up, this woman seemed to be affected and unaffected by Jheika all at once, her tone was equally unreadable.

 

“Uhm, greetings Warden Wolkner, i am Captain Esp-

 

“Captain Esperi Ve’galuu, newly appointed leader of the Heeja and daughter of Elyendra Ve’galuu. Oh i know who you are dear, and again thank you for coming.” 

 

“You know my mother? How?”

“She and i served together at the battle of Fenreath Bridge, yeah i’m not too surprised she hasn’t spoke of it much. That was a dark week.” Her words were followed by a short but powerful silence, they both knew about the horrors in which she alluded to.

 

“So what’s the situation here?” Jheika said breaking the tension. “Where did we spot them? And who was it that did said spotting?”

 

“Ah yes, late last night one of my scouts, Nova, and her jigglypuff reported back sweating and clearly having ran a great distance. She saw a small squad of Equaldren’s with light arms, just a few archers lead by one of their knights, their intent is still unknown to us.”

 

“One of their knights is with them? Do they have a Rapidash?” Esperi spoke up trying her best to sound captain-like. She had always wanted to see a true Equaldren bread and born Rapidash.

 

“I believe so, it’s one of the reasons i summoned you both here, still no idea what they are doing here. I don’t even know the last time we had real contact with the Eqauldrens.” The warden spoke to them while still looking around at all the dock workers.

 

“We were speaking of it a little on the trip, but you must know more of the conflict between our two nations, and maybe why we don’t speak of it.” Esperi didn’t normally stir the pot but she was tired, hungry, and already annoyed at the day so far. Jheika gave her a look as if she stole an opportunity from her.

 

“Hmmm, come with me.” She clicked her black cane forward and began to walk toward the barracks a few hundred yards away. “As i’m sure you were taught back in school, the Battle of Fenreath Bridge and the following Marshlands War was fought between us and the Komaal’Jai,”

 

“Yeah?” Esperi said goading her to speak quicker.

 

“Well during that war some of our scouting Pelipper intercepted a series of letters between King Greihm of the Jai and King Keldiel of the Equaldrens. The Equaldren’s were offering supplies and troops in return for allegiance in the future, well your mother didn’t exactly take that lightly and decided to take a few ships out to raid the supply train. But little did we know that it was a trap, and the letters were purposely being lost in order to miss lead us, she lost more than fifty good warriors and sailors and at least a dozen of our Golducks. Elyendra was never the same after that.”

 

“Was there tension before that? Or did it all start so recently, the way you all talk about it makes me think it goes deeper than that.” Jheika was tossing ripped bits of bread to Nadra as she spoke.

 

“Well yes, but all of that is for the historians. Right now they are in our territory with a fully armed knight and his rapidash, they are being escorted by a squad of archers and i’m not taking any risks.” they neared the ornate wood barracks during the short silence left by Warden Wolkner. The distinct clanging of practice swords being swung and parried could be heard behind the pointed wooden walls, Esperi looked over to a sectioned of part of the lake near them. Dozens of full grown Golducks floated around on their backs in lulled sleep, Esperi smiled at the sight of them. The three of them and their three pokemon reached the paved dirt road still in silence,

 

“Where is Nova? I would like to speak to her about her sighting.” Jheika said abruptly, the warden had been saluted by all the soldiers they passed now that they were in the compound.

 

“She is still on the front, by where she spotted them. I sent her back out into the forest just north of her with two other of my more slender and stealthy girls.” 

 

“How far is it from here?” Esperi said before Jheika could, cutting off her first syllable.

“That’s the most worrying part, not even a mile from here. That rapidash could do some real damage in no time at all, our Golducks are all trained and ready to deal with fires but those things are fast. Have you two seen one in action?”

 

“No, but Nadra here is faster than you think.” Jheika beat Esperi to the response this time, they crossed into the threshold of the building to a pleasant dull warmth in contrast to the outside chill of the lake.

 

“Oh i’m sure she is, Ninetails are quite fast. But they hold no ground to the Equaldren bred mustang Rapidash, trust when i say that it is folly to try and match an Equaldren knight in speed. Oi Rickor!” She shouted towards the back of the lodge and a slender dark skinned man, covered in burns and scars came running out to meet them.

 

“Yes ma’am? What can i get for you?” He spoke quickly but with more confidence than most other servants Esperi had dealt with.

 

“Just some hot tea for the three of us please, and a few of those cookies you made.” Esperi’s mouth almost watered at the mention, but just as the man began to hustle off a loud bang chimed out in the hall.

 

“ATTACK! Warden, Artha just came sprinting back from the woods with two arrows in her. She said they were spotted and attacked” the woman who shouted to them was leaning over the railings above them.

 

“Esperi! Go round up a few of my warriors and get in there, don't let that knight get here. Jheika go wake up the Golducks and secure the waterfront, Now!”she snapped her fingers twice in quick succession, the two of them mounted up and their Ninetails dashed out the barracks from where they came in. Esperi didn't expect any actual action from this mission, she expected to come here and see some scouts off in the distance and report back. But casualties had already fallen, and she was already on her way to combat. They broke out of the building in seconds at split from each other,

 

“You four! With me!” Esperi drew her sword and pointed to a cluster of woman warriors standing around holding their spears ready for orders. They all smacked their sheilds together before jogging after her, Esperi and Rookah had to ride slower than usual as to not leave the warriors behind, she wasn’t gonna let there be any more Fajrakan deaths today. They made it out of the walls of the compound and into the foot of the surrounding woods, Rookah could probably have ran at this pace for more than twelve hours before needing a break. Esperi put her sword back in her scabbard and drew her bow half knocking an arrow, she scanned the woods with eagle like precision and kept her ears perked up. 

 

After another five minutes of trotting along Rookah started giving the distinct signs of smelling something, Esperi pulled back on her reins gently and held up her first. Rookah began to sniff cautiously while the warriors behind crept up to a ledge just behind her, her white ears flicked back and forth and her snout danced all about the musty plant covered ground. One of the warriors behind started to whisper something to the woman next to her, but Esperi cut her off with two swift clicks from her tongue. Suddenly Rookah’s neck snapped to the a thick oak tree ahead and to their left, she snarled and pawed the ground with malice. She clicked her tongue again and gestured with her neck to a cluster of bushes ahead of her, the women vaulted over the small ridge with spears in hand and ducked behind the bush. Esperi’s arm held her arrow steadily aimed at the large oak, he breaths were steadied and her chest was unflinching while she stare. The ladies in front of her nervously shifted, the four of them were obviously as green as Esperi was but she sensed that they yearned for a real fight and were tired of sparring.

“If these fucking jarheads screw up my first command…” She thought to herself, her eyes darting from the tree to the four of them. An unfortunate Equaldren archer peered his head around the tree, Esperi let loose her first arrow but the enemy heard the arrow cutting through the air and back behind the tree again.

 

“Go go go! Move up now!” Esperi strained her voice trying to speak loud enough for them to hear her but as to not give anything away. They heard her well and all moved up to different cover each, Esperi knocked another arrow and aimed but she whistled for Rookah to move up and around to their left. She spotted the archers also moving up from tree to tree, they moved well through the treeline, avoiding open spaces and leaving little room for a good shot. Still no sight of the Rapidash or it’s mounted knight, another shot of guilt raged through her when she thought of the scouts that had been killed mere minutes ago. Her anger fueled her next shot, firing expertly through the brush to sink deep into one of the enemies chest, a cry of pain roared out from ahead of them. She whistled again but this time louder, holding the note for a full five seconds as Rookah dashed forward. The warriors followed, shouting as they charged, Rookah bridged the gap in fifteen short seconds and Esperi fired another shot during the ride, but hitting a tree rather than her target. One of the enemy archers popped out from a bush and fired an arrow at her chest but Rookah jumped to the side in reaction to the noise. 

 

She lept off her Ninetails, tucking her head in, and rolling on impact dodging another incoming arrow shot from above, Esperi nocked an arrow as she recovered smoothly flicked around to lose it at the man in the tree. He fell to the ground with an arrow stuck through his gut, the man from the bush had snuck to another and shot again. Esperi moved her shoulder but not quick enough, the arrow nicking her arm and sending a sharp jolt of searing pain down her arm. Esperi ignored the pain and charge him down drawing her sword and lunging a greater gap than she knew she was capable of, the archer crumpled to the ground as she ripped her sword out of his chest. Over her shoulder she saw a white blur thar ripped through the opening like a bolt of lightning, she whistled to Rookah, who had been holding ground, she dashed over and Esperi leapt up onto her saddle. As they rode off after the Knight, her warriors reached the clearing and chased down the last two archers. The Rapidash ran so swiftly and smoothly through the thick forest Esperi couldn’t line up a shot, Rookah managed to keep up more than she should have due to the naturally bred in agility that Fajrakan Ninetails were known for. The Rapidash was nearing an opening in the trees just ahead of them, Esperi pulled the reins hard cutting the corner but fighting through thicker brush on their way. Esperi pulled her sword from its belt and whacked at the branches to ease Rookah’s ride.

 

Esperi reached the clearing and tucked herself behind a fallen oak and readied hopefully the last arrow for the day, she aimed at the wooded path where she knew her target would be running from. The knight broke into the clearing in a blaze of flames causing several small firea in the woods behind him, the flash of light broke her shot and the Rapidash started to pick up speed at a terrifying pace. Esperi too a secons quick aim up and prayed to the gods, her arrow flew in a massive wide arc up and turned down towards the earth. She watched as it fell slowly and wondered how far of a shot it was, after another second or two it stuck firmly into the Knight’s shoulder and the horse stumbled. Esperi took the opportunity and she and Rookah flew forward, running faster than her Ninetails ever had before. But to no avail, the Rapidash recovered before they got close enough, the armored knight was slumped over as it disappeared into a white and red blur.

 

“Fucking hell,” she looked down at Rookah who looked back panting with her thin red tongue hanging out. “That’s the fastest thing i’ve ever seen.” Rookah roared low in response, Esperi pulled the reins around as they rode back towards the warriors.

 

“Damn cap'n, nice shooting.” The shortest of them said looking her up and down.

 

“Did y’all see my throw? Took that archer down like he was nutin’, yeah i knew i was ready.” Another one of them boasted loudly patting the ground with her spear as she spoke.

“Cap’n what about the fire? What are we gonna do?”

 

“Jheika will be here soon with the Golducks you have kept, i’m sure they will put it out.” her mind was only half occupied with her words, the sight of that Rapidash would be permanently seared in her mind. It was  _ demonically _ fast, the grass under its hooves had burned purley from friction and not from and of its natural fire.

 

“OI!” Jheika’s Ninetails, Nadra, was sprinting up to them looking playfully angry. “You didn’t leave any for me? Gods damn girl you know i’ve been itching for some combat!” The Golducks came running up from behind and set off towards the burning brush. “Hey, what is it?” Jheika sensed there was something plaguing her.

 

“The Rapidash Jhe, it was, blinding. It was so much faster than we were ever told, they...they..lied to us. Our Ninetails will never be able to match them, i don’t know what to do.”

 

“Hey hey hey, it’s gonna be fine. We won didn’t we? And you and me both know that speed will only get you so far in battle, i guess you know that more than me.” Jheika nudged her and smiled coyly. Her cavalier attitude snapped Esperi out of it, she smiled back.

 

“You’re one to talk, ms. muscles, and nothing but muscles.” They both laughed and then a tinge of pain reminded her of her wound, and as she was reminded she felt the stream of wet going down her arm. “Oh, um, i need first aid.” She ripped at her cloth to reveal the scrape.

 

“Meh that’s nothing, but you’re right let's get that little scratched all fixed up for you princess.” Esperi found this especially funny as she hadn’t noticed the wound right away.

 

“You four stay with the Golducks, make sure they clear this up thoroughly and then escort them back.” Two of them nodded in response, and then Esperi and Jheika trotted off towards the compound. Jheika’s words had helped to calm Esperi down, yet all the while that blurred image of the galloping horse burned in her mind. 


	24. Repairing Arrogance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone from last chapter took an arrow. Kyrie is a little more than heated.

Kyrie

26th of Delroth

Repairing Arrogance   

 

Kyrie tore across the small campground feeling more anger than she’s ever felt before, the news had come in only twenty minutes ago. Kyrie took the time to calm herself a little before she decided to go and see the man, the fucking moron, who had attacked the Fajrakans withouts orders. Without a plan, without a godman thought in his fucking head he lost four good archers and was now being tended too in the first aid tent. His Rapidash, Hellhoof, had come galloping into camp early this morning before the sun had risen. Half the camp got woken up in the panic which quickly spread to Kyries ear, she had absolutely no idea what she was going to say to him, not to mention what he punishment he would receive, if he even survives. 

“Princess Kyrie,” Kyrie had not named herself commander nor took up any leadership roles yet every single officers who spoke with her treated her as the superior. 

 

“Yes Commander Pelleadis?” she gritted through her teeth, still feeling the fire raging inside her.

 

“Princess, what are you going to do.”

 

“I don’t know yet, what’s the standard here? What would be your punishment?”

“Well Princess, that decision would not go to me. We would keep him until he’s well enough to walk around and then call down the Knight Comandante, General Falthor, and the king himself when a Knight commits a war crime against Equaldres.” his voice was grumbled and deep through his thick red beard, each of his steps was at least three of Kyries.

 

“That’s completely unnecessary, and a war crime?” they walked past another line of white and gold tents, several Equaldren soldiers were poking their heads out woken up by the disturbance.

 

“Yes m’lady, he disobeyed direct orders from his superior and got the four men he was in charge of killed. That would definitely qualify as a war crime against the land.” His tone was even, and completely unflinching, kyrie had no idea what Pelleadis thought of this.

 

“And what is the punishment for such an act?” She asked with a lump in her throat.

 

“Death, princess. He will be hung.” Still his tone remained as stoic as ever. She was dreading this answer, but knew it was coming all the same. She couldn't help but question this rule at its core. How was it not a waste of life, to just kill a man for his one mistake.

 

“Does he really deserve to die? Can we really blame the man for being rash?”

 

“Yes, we can and we will princess. If we do not punish him we will set a precedent with the men, they will think that acting rashly and without thinking is something to be rewarded. Soon we will have every other man on the field trying to be a hero and charging into battle without backup, or plan, or way out. Princess i’ve seen it before and it’s not pretty.” She remained silent as they neared the first aid tents up the hill ahead of them. He was right of course, but she couldn’t shake the idea that this was a waste of life. They stepped up the small hill leading towards the medical tents, Kyrie was still angry as hell at this man, but now it was followed by a tinge a melancholy. 

 

They pushed through the tent flaps and stepped into the surprisingly cold inside, the sight of the man was grim. An arrow was stuck through his shoulder, it was sunk so deep inside the poor man that only the plumage was visible. He was half covered in blood and still being cleaned. The knight was coughing up blood and barely conscious while two apprentice heals held their hands and channeled healing spells into him. From their furrowed brows and unblinking stares Kyrie could tell they were not gaining much ground.  

 

“Oh gods, what kind of shot was this, did a fucking god smite you with this arrow?” The man smiled and coughed again, trying to laugh. “Shh, don’t try to speak or laugh.” Tender was her voice and hand. She rolled up the sleeves of her sleeping shirt and snapped at a man standing in the corner waiting to help. “Why don't we have a bowl of ice water here?! Do you people know nothing!” Kyrie shoved the two mages aside and began to channel her own spell through one hand, with the other she traced a small glyph of tissue repair over his lungs. The two other healers looked on with indignation, the power of her magic through her one hand was far stronger than the two of them combined. The attendant returned to the tent with a metal bowl of chilled water and set it on the table next to Kyrie,

 

“Thank you, no i would like you all to stand back. This is gonna be bloody.” Her eyes washed over with a light blue glow and she began to channel. The man’s chest began to split open smoothly and she countered the blood flow with a simple pooling charm, it aloud the blood to redistribute across the body while skipping the opening. Several people in the tents gasped as she moved her open palm along the cut, widening it to reveal the man’s right rib cage and dense muscle structure. 

 

“Alright alright, shut your mouths. Let her work.” Lieutenant Pellaedis said fiercely silencing the tent in a half second. 

 

“Thank you,” She used the same precise carving and slicing technique as she had done with the skin, to open up his chest further, revealing the pierced lungs slowly filling with more and more blood. With the wounds revealed she had more options, she could dissolve the wood and steel of the arrow into water and then drain the excess fluid from him. She could seal his body with a quick time lock spell and then widen the wound and simply pull the arrow from him, then her glyph would seal up the various tears and cuts.

 

“You two, take note. Some healing magic requires you to get in there. What you two were doing could have taken days, when you pour your energy into generic heal spells and charms all you are doing is speeding up the bodies natural healing process. And it’s a little hard for a body to heal with an arrow stuck through its lungs no? Also learn to put your energy into a something that will happen all at once, like a glyph.” As she spoke, Kyrie went through the process of putting multiple pooling and stasis charms on his shoulder, lung chamber, lung wall, and the innards of the lung. Then with her free left hand she phased the arrow through his chest, Pellaedis grabbed the arrow out of the air as the phasing spell wore off. Kyrie, one by one, repaired the man's muscle, his skin, and the let loose all the charms she had placed on his innards. To finish the job she popped her glyph sending a massive surge of healing energy through him, and after a minute of silence his eyes snapped back open and he coughed a few times as if he had just inhaled water.

 

“FUCK!” The man gasped, and coughed up a bit more water. “One second i hear the princess make a joke, the next second i’m in white room staring at blue sky and clouds feeling as if i’ve just died, then without even an idea of how much time passed, i was here. Coughing like i’ve spent a night in Brightglow.” He was panting loud leaning over and holding his short cut hair firm.

 

“Hey hey, relax. Drink up,” Kyrie handed him the bowl of chilled water, he took it and drank like a half dead camel “You didn’t die if that’s what you’re thinking, that white room you speak of and lack of sense of time? That was just a way of soothing you while i removed the arrow.” He looked up from the bowl and smiled, and in that second she was reminded of why he ended up like this.

 

“Thank you princess, you saved my li-,” She interrupted him with a hardy back handed slap to the cheek ,“Shut your fucking mouth, you arrogant little shit don’t you dare smile at me. What were you thinking? You got your whole squad killed! Four good men slaughtered for your vanity, for your battle hungry for ego, for your fucking tiny little sack.” She slapped him again.

 

“Princess, that’s enough. This is becoming borderline cruel.” Lieutenant Pellaedis grabbed her shoulder and spoke calmly.

 

“What? I’ve seen men lower rank that you hit men harder than i ever could.” 

 

“Yes but princess they didn’t just bring the man back from the brink of death. That is more powerful than you realise.” Kyrie hadn’t thought of this and felt a wave of guilt push her down into the sand of her rad actions. She looked back to the man who rubbed his cheek and looked down sullen faced.

 

“I..I’m sorry ma’am, i’m ready for my punishment. I deserve it, this was a mistake i dare not make again.” He didn’t look up from his bowl while he spoke, Kyrie still felt angry at the man, but she couldn’t let him be hung. Not after all that work she had just done.

 

“Well, you should be sorry you dumb shit. This was the more than a mistake, how are we supposed to tell the families of those men this?”

 

“I won’t be around much to find out i suppose.” He said with the same sullen tone.

 

“Wait, you mean to tell me this knowing full well it would mean your death were you to return?” She asked indignantly, “Why would you ever do something so utterly fucking idiotic? We are not even riding to battle! How can you been so foolhardy when our task is merely to establish footing at our border?” 

 

“Well, i suppose i thought if i took the nearby encampment than you all would bring the troops here, where i and my men would be there to greet you.”

“And receive praise? You want to bathe in glory and women is that it boy?” Pellaedis spat angrily.

 

“No.. no i just.”

“This campaign is not for yours, mine, or anyone else's vanity. That is NOT what war is about you little shit, you will hang for this boy.”

 

“No. not anymore. Not after i just saved his life, i will not let him die. He can rot in a dungeon back home but i am not letting him be hung to be made example of.” Kyrie said stepping towards the lieutenant and looking fierce.

 

“Princess we talked about this, we can’t set a pr-

 

“A precedent yes i know, Pellaedis you said this before but it doesn’t change the fact you all woke me up hours before the sun is set to rise so i could save this young knights life. Hanging him would be a direct insult to your princess and thus an insult to your king.” Kyrie was proud of this response, she thought she had him like a deer caught in a trap.

 

“Princess he’s already insulted the king, by disobeying direct orders from down the line of command he may as well have spat in mine kings own face.” Pellaedis had a point, but Kyrie still felt attachment to the young knight. He might have been a brash son of a bitch but he didn’t deserve to die.

“Pellaedis if i have to pull rank and take him back to the dungeons myself i will, are you really gonna make your princess do that?” The look on his face gave her his answer. “Good, now round up some men and take this shit to a cage, we’ll deal with him later”

 

“Th.. thank you princess. You have my undying gratitude.” The young knight said to Kyrie’s back as she started to walk away. She turned at the sound of his voice and smiled at him.

 

“You’re so welcome.” Kyrie reared back her hand again and put a searing spell on it, before smacking him so hard he fell back over onto the table. A small plume of smoke rose from the tent as Kyrie through the tent flaps aside and marched out, as angry as she had been this morning.

 

“Princess wait,” Pellaedis charged out of the tent after her with a furrowed brow. “What do i say to them men now, huh? You tell me was i’m supposed to say to them now! You know now that any other incidents like this are on you now.”

 

“Yes i know that, I chose to march out to war with you and the rest of the army. When i did i knew i was taking on the responsibility of “rank” don’t you lecture me on responsibility when your first response is too just up and kill the poor bastard.”

 

“It’s not my response Kyrie, I j-

 

“It’s, princess Kyrie, Lieutenant.” his nostril flared for a second and she knew she had struck a chord.

 

“I just follow the law of the land, Princess, Kyrie.”

 

“And you say this to them, I am the best sorceress these lands have ever seen, and i do not have time to heal each and every one of them. Tell them that the next man to commit treason like that, will spend the remainder of the war as my personal organ and blood donor.” She flicked one eyebrow up before spinning on her heel and walking off towards her fenced off tent. Kyrie heard the footsteps of the lieutenant walking back towards the medical pavilions. 

 

On her way back to her tent she was met with dozens of worried looks and hidden glances, she paid them no mind. Kyrie knew how rumors spread throughout an armies camp like this, especially when woken from their sleep at such an unspeakably early hour. A troublesome line of thoughts plagued her as she neared the officers tents. What was her father going to say about this, and how would it affect the other Equaldren casters? Kyrie’s methods of healing and repairing were all her own as far as she knew, but it was all just her instincts, a deep surge of confidence raged through her now. She was the crowned princess of the wealthiest nation in Ombir, what were they gonna do to her? Complain to the king, she laughed to herself for a moment. Just because they may not possess the humility to ask and learn doesn’t mean Kyrie was the villain for possessing the knowledge and skill. 

 

She pushed through her own enlarged tent to find Flaise slumped over and sprawled out on his bed roll like a beached whale. Kyrie smiled at her large hound and some of the stress of this morning had started to fade away, she watched his deep breathes and twitching paws. Kyrie had always been so jealous of the way all dogs, pokemon or not, could dream and be entirely in another reality. She took the hint from him and brushed herself off before crawling back into her own bedroll, the adrenaline rush from her work slowly wore off into the soft comfort of her feathered pillow and mattress. After another few minutes of staring into the ceiling of her tent, her eyes became heavy and hard to keep open. She resisted no more and drifted back into lulling sleep.


	25. Fading Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets worse for Thaedres

Thaedres

26th of Deltroth

Fading Hope

 

Pain. Aching, searing, ripping, biting, beating, skinning scorching, pain. Theadres felt as if he body had been reduced to nothing but a husk, a shell, a conduit for his tortures and a receptacle for all the horrors the Galavadrens could produce. The first day when he was taken from his cell was the worse of the two, thrown into a burlap sack he was dragged through the burning hot sand with no rest for the full day. Luckily the burning pain knocked him out for most of the trip, but still he went without rest for a full cycle of the sun. Thaedres felt the presence of his captor, Akiva, for the entire first day of riding. She was clearly more of a warrior, or a demon, than a leader and that taught Thaedres more about her than anything she could have said to him. But after they stopped at what Thaedres assumed was a tavern or some other sort of res-stop, Akiva and a contingent of soldiers escorting her broke off from the rest of her men. When she left the dragging only got worse. The men left escorting his scarred, burned, and bruised half corpse of a body, seemed to enjoy the pain he felt all the more. They pelted him with rocks, drew blood with just the tips of their blades, jaunted and yelled at him, and several times they took him from the bag and took their turns beating him bloody and black with their iron gauntlets. After another two days of this they had finally reached their destination.

 

“Ah, fun’s over boys.” One of them said dropping Theadres in his sack hard, one of his burns split open and oozed out into the sand. He coughed hard his lungs aching for fresh air while his throat begged beyond hope for any semblance of moisture. A sharp kick hit him in the side and he internalized his yell of pain, 

 

“Shut the fuck up you little forest shit,” Another of them spat at his blood, sweat, and piss stained sack. They all laughed in unison, he had lost track of how many there were, or really how much time had passed. 

 

“We should give him his water now though, you know the warden of the Dregvosh has standards with their accepted prisoners.”

 

“You see, this is why our Countess is so great. She gives us this tonic to nearly fully revitalize this little spec of shit.” Thaedres had come to know this man’s voice the most of them all, he was by far the most sadistic of them all, a ghost pain of the man’s knife against his manhood crept up with his chilling voice.

 

“I don’t believe it, no one can come back from this? Did you see the poor fucker last time we took him out? Those burns he’s got are there until he dies in this big fucking place.” their voices and slightly altered accents all blended together after a point, the thought of being fully restored after all the torture he’s endured over the last ten days of captivity.

 

“We’ll fucking see won’t we, Lorn.” Before Thaedres could think the dragging started again.

 

“Lorn you better hope word doesn’t get back to Lady Akiva that you’re doubting her.” The man’s words were followed by laughs.

 

“Next thing you know it’ll be your pale ass sent ere’, than it’ll be you being made some brutes little play thing.” More laughs echoed around the stony cliffs, the rocks on the ground became steadily more jagged and tore into Thaedres’s skin worse with renewed pain.

 

“Nah, she’d just kill one of us. Why do you think we’re the ones slugging this filth across the Demon’s Sand? Because we’re grunts, we’re nothing to er’. Oi, i bet she could take all eight of us without breaking a sweat, nah if she caught word of one of us back talking her orders she’s just order our death.” The silence that followed his words hinted at a shared sympathy between these monsters, Thaedres had to fight a depressed chuckle. They would kick him hard in the sides of the stomach if he even tried to moan or cry out in pain, but internalizing everything only made his nerves scream out louder. The further he was dragged the more monolithic the presence ahead felt. The small reprieve of being dragged out of the burning sun was tainted by a haunting fear.  One of the men whistled loudly clearly looking up at the Dregvosh,

 

“Damn, it’s big.”

 

“Wait till we get inside, it’s built deep down into the mountains.” The one Thaedres had come to to hate the most spoke up,

 

“You been here before?” 

 

“Nah, my uncle works for the warden as a cook. He writes about it his letters, talks about how it's a marvel, a spectacle to be seen. He talks about it looking just like Galavadra in some places.”

 

“Expect it might even be hotter here,” A few of them groaned in agreement and Thaedres felt an odd bit of kinship to his tormentors.

 

“At least we’re used to it, hope this fucker is dying.” The one speaking kick him again in the back hitting the back of his knee.

 

“He might be, let's give him the tonic now.” The murmured in agreement and stopped suddenly. Thaedres’s burlap prison burst open, unlike the other times this happened on this horrid trip they were fully enveloped in shade.

 

“Fucking hell.” They all groaned and laughed at the sight of him.

 

“You may have been pretty before boy,” The big scarred bald man leaned down and put his face inches from Thaedres’s. He grabbed Thaedres’s jaw hard and yanked him even closer. “But you’re ugly as sin now.” He bit the cork off the top of a crystal vial he pulled from his side pouch then shoved it into Thaedres’s mouth. Thaedres didn’t try to resist but his body was not as used to drinking as it should have been. He coughed and gagged as the tart pine tasting gel slide down his bleeding throat. 

 

“Oi, it looks like just like me seed.” One of them said to uproarious laughter. “You like that huh? You’ll be getting plenty more soon enough.” Several of them clutched at their sides and leaned back with their jeers, this had been a thought Thaedres was trying to avoid but the time was nearly upon him. After half a minute of the stinging tonic sitting in his stomach he felt the healing start to take place. Thaedres looked down at his hands as the burns and scars started to fade away and return to their normal state.

 

“Would you look at that,” Thaedres looked up to see all of them now starting at him with furious expressions. “Just as pretty as before. Looks like your gonna be quite popular here, princey.” None of them laughed this time, they merely stared with knowing malice. Thaedres made no expressions, betrayed no emotion, he stared back even and unblinking.

  
“Stand up you fucking cunt, you gotta walk the rest of the way.”

 

“Yeah they have  _ standards,  _ here at the Dregvosh.”

 

“Not a bloody corpse, no they like em’ fresh and unbroken here.” Still he remained stoic and unflinching, but panic and dread started to seep into his subconscious. Captain Anaklees had once told him about the Dregvosh and about the horrors that go on inside it’s black iron walls. Two of the bigger men grabbed his under arms and lifted him up onto his feet. Thaedres’s legs still felt weak even after the wondrous tonic but he managed to stay standing.

 

“There he is. There’s the elf prince.” Now that Thaedres got a good look at man whose voice he had come to recognize, he realized why he was so exceptionally violent. The man was beyond ugly, he had boils on his thick neck and nose more crooked and grotesque than an actual troll. Another one of them put a waterskin up to his mouth and tilted it back, the cool liquid was more refreshing and delicious than anything had ever been before.

 

“Alright alright, that's enough. Get the fuck moving.” The bald troll man began forward, he grimaced clearly having a hard time looking Thaedres in the eye. They all started walking through the sharp rocks and up the hilled path, the entrance to the Dregvosh was in between two massive red stone rocks and marked the entrance to the Blood Onyx Mountain range. The impassable red peaks stretch out for miles and was the home of the some of the deadliest breeds of pokemon in the world. Thaedres recalled a story Anaklees had told him, the story of how he came to fine a little gray-skulled cubone abandoned in a ditch. Thinking of Grayskull, and by extension all of the other pokemon in the Greenwood, he felt a horrible wave of dread and longing. He may never see them again.

 

It took them all another twenty minutes before making their way up the winding rocky path and to the base of the iron fortress that was The Dregvosh. Thaedres looked up to see dozens of guards staring down at them, their heads fully covered in black metal helmets. He slowly lowered his head back to the gate trying to not to show how intimidating these guards were to him. The metal gate before them slowly began to open with a hunting absence of noise, they began forward again into the dark maw.

 

“So uh, who's gonna meet us? You know to accept the prisoner?” 

 

“Dunno, all i know is that Lady Akiva said to take him to the warden personally with the letter and the bag of iron coins she gave us.” Thaedres didn’t know how he felt about putting faces to all the voices he had been hearing, when he saw them in the dessert his eyes were too weak to really register them in the blinding sun.

 

“Do you still have them?!” The man who was a fan of long cuts up and down Thaedres’s arms and legs said with a panicked whisper.

 

“Of course i do dumbass, i’ve been feeling my pocket every twenty fucking minutes making sure i still have them.” The troll man in lead said angrily but with the same whispered tone. The entrance to the Dregvosh was just a massive entrance hall with one long counter in front of them. They walked with quickend steps towards the lone woman behind the counter in front of them, she smiled with an unflinching emotionless aura. Around the room were dozens of hexagonal small openings  with bars with vertical bars letting in a light pleasant breeze. The whole room had a disattacheched erie feel to it: There were comfortable metal chairs in neat and organized lines on either side of them but no one around to occupy them. As they approached the counter the woman pulled a quill from underneath and began to jot something down on unseen parchment.

 

“Welcome to the Dregvosh, brave Galavadrens. I’ve been told you’re here to deliver a new addition.” She smiled wide and looked at Thaedres through his captors.

 

“Aye, uh, yes we are. Lady Akiva, The Grand Countess of Galavadra sent us here with this letter and this bag of coin for the warden himself.” The lead ugly man said with some mock confidence.

 

“Could i confirm the seal on the letter please?” She said holding her hand out without changing her tone or expression. The man handed her the letter with just the slightest hint of hesitation. Thaedres noticed the woman was moderately attractive but as she looked over the seal he thought about how she didn’t really resemble a real person.

“Thank you, please have a seat and we will be with you shortly.” She handed the letter back and turned to enter a doorway that Thaedres could barely make out in the low light of the glowing white crystals above.

 

“So what we’re just supposed to wait here?” 

 

“I guess, at least the chairs don’t look so bad.” They all shuffled over to some nearby seats and sat down.

 

“He can fucking stand.” Thaedres expected no less, and when the two burly men let go of his arms he didn’t even think to make an escape. The group of them sat there in the chairs, talking intermediately to each other for nearly an hour before the door opened and the woman stepped out.

 

“The warden will see you now,” She said not skipping a beat and returning to her initial spot. The Galavadren soldiers stood up and walked towards her counter but she but up a hand to stop them. “No, not all of you. Two of you may escort the prisoner back to the wardens chambers. The rest will stay here and wait.”

 

“Why can’t we all take him? He’s a dangerous warrior and the prince of the Thuusains. Why would we leave him with only two of us?” The troll faced man said, to Thaedres’s surprise.

 

“It is precisely that reason that only two of you will accompany him, he is too dangerous to be around so many unfamiliar faces in our glorious halls. None of you are trained to our standards nor are you familiar with these grounds.” Her face still held the same unflinching expressionless smile, Thaedres felt slightly flattered. Despite the fact he was unarmed and had been beaten and half starved for the past eight days they still feared his potential.

 

“Wait so you’re trying to tell us he’s more likely to escape with us there? What kind of backwards ass logic is that?”

 

“The logic, in it.” She paused hard on the word. “Is that the warden prefers things done a certain way, and if you would like to deposit your prisoner and report positively back to your countess. Than you will do as he says.” Thaedres finally heard a bit of inflection in her tone, however subtle it was.

 

“Fine. Paik, you and i will take him.” She had clearly struck a nerve when she mentioned Akiva. “Let’s hope your warden knows what he’s doing.”

 

“I assure you, he does.” An opening in the counter seemed to appear with her words. She waved them forward as the other men walked back to the chairs behind them. Thaedres thought an extra layer of deception they could be playing at. By talking about an escape and about his ability are they baiting him into something worse while here? The counter closed behind them as the same door opened up that she had disappeared through. 

 

“And just where are you warden’s quarters?”

 

“No need to worry, you will be escorted.” She smiled and nodded at them on last time and turned back to look at the same waiting room. The troll faced man looked to his partner Paik and scoffed before they took Thaedres by the arm and walked through the doorway. As if by magic, once through the doorway the lighting suddenly became bright and luminescent. Thaedres could see the details of the hall they were in as clear as day underneath the glow of the gems lining the ceiling. The metal work was quite impressive and the size of the hall stuck a cord of fear inside Thaedres. How big were some of the other prisoners?

 

“Ugh, just where is this guide? I don’t like this, i don’t like how she treated us. Are we not supposed to be honored guests?” The troll faced man’s head darted about as he spoke, his nervousness was seeping out of every syllable he spoke.

 

“It’s alright Ugiel, we’ve only one way to go.” Paik said, he was a bigger man with much broader shoulders. Clearly he wasn’t as afraid of Thaedres as the man named Ugiel was. Finally a name to the face.

 

“Hey what the fuck! Don’t fucking use my name in front of the prisoner.”

 

“You know you’ve all been talking about me as if i’m not here.” Thaedres’s voice felt foreign after so many days in utter silence, but speaking up felt good. He still had no hope of escaping at the moment but knowing the man’s name game Thaedres a surge of energy.

 

“You shut your fucking mouth.” Ugiel had to lean up onto his toes in order to grab Thaedres’s jaw again, making the gesture half as intimidating. “Less you want us to make a detour on our way to the warden.” He smiled a crooked yellow toothed smile, this threat had dozens of logical holes but pointing them out would do nothing for him at this time.

 

“Fucking hell i forgot he could speak, must be one resilient sumbitch.”

 

“It’s not him! It’s the tonic! He’s just normal forest trash, like the rest of em we slaughtered.” He was clearly trying to enrage Thaedres, but to no effect. Anaklees long ago had taught him how to internalize all the rage he felt, and use it to fuel him when the time comes. They reached the end of the hall after the troll man let Thaedres go and turned away angrily, the door before them opened from the bottom in a flash. The room beyond was even nicer and brighter than the hall before, so much so that for a second Thaedres forgot he was in a prison. The dark metal of the walls and ceiling were contrasted by brilliant white marble pillars and counter-tops. Two fountains in the shape of two Lunatones stared ominously at them, lining the entrance and giving the room a grand regal presence. At the end of the long rectangular room sat a similar counter to the one before but this time with three people sat behind it, two women with the same sleek hair and one man with jet black hair pulled back and tied. The three of them smiled and stared at them unblinking and emotionless, just as the woman before was. Thaedres just now realized they had been staring at the paintings and various other niceties throughout the place for almost five minutes now. He nudged Paik in the side despite knowing what would follow. The tall pale skin man turned and punched him in the chest hard,

 

“Oi the fuck was that? You trying something?” He said indignantly with his fists still balled.

 

“No,” Thaedres said with a tight chest, he coughed once hard and wet. “Just reminding you, that you have to walk eventually.” He coughed again and leaned over. Thaedres was over selling the man’s punch but he wanted them to think him weaker than he was.

 

“C’mon then.” Ugeil said angrily grabbing his arm again and walking ahead. “The fuck’s the point of this? Why do they have another room just like the one before.” 

 

“What? This room is nothing like the one before? It’s so nice and cool, plus look how beautiful everything is.”

 

“That’s not what i meant you idiot, it serves the same purpose as the one before. What is the point of two of these?” Thaedres shared his tormentors concerns about this place, redundancy at it’s finest. They reached the counter in a matter of moments and the man stepped out from behind it to greet them,

 

“Welcome Galavadren’s, i will take you to the warden now. But first please leave your arms.” he said in a modest tone smiling all the while. Clearly Ugeil wanted to argue, the look on his face made that painfully obvious. But after a brief second he and Paik un-belted their swords and knives and handed them over. “These and your other men’s arms will be sent to our smiths to be cared for. The Demon’s sand can be quite harsh, even on a sheathed blade.”

 

“Oh well, thank you.”

 

“Of course good sir, right this way.” As the man waved his arm in a friendly gesture, the door to their right slowly opened with distant clicks and rattles. They walked through the door and into another hall exactly like the first one, but much shorter. Once through the next door way they entered into a massive observatory room, filled with more fountains and plants and plenty of sitting room. To their right, was the largest glass window Thaedres had ever seen, it was bigger than entire sections of Greenwoods wall. Through the window he could see the titanic hole in the mountain that the Dregvosh was built around. All around the top floor were elegant rooms just like this one, full of lavish goods and some with wealthy looking people drinking and socializing. But as he down, as far as he could from this angle, the floors became worse and more prison-like. He saw what was clearly a mess hall but no prisoners yet to be seen, dozens of cages and dead hung mean dangled from chains attached to huge stalactites. Dozens of platforms could be seen suspended over the chasm all at varying heights, but still no prisoners to be seen. The metal platforms and cages built into the rock stretched all the way down from what Thaedres could see.

 

“My god's Ugeil, you see this? Why didn’t they say it’d be so fucking huge!’ Paik said with excitement in his deep voice.

 

“Calm down Paik,” Thaedres could tell from the troll man’s voice that he too was impressed, and for good reason. The Dregvosh was a horrific marvel.

 

“Yes we are quite proud here, that will be even more obvious once you meet Warden Kaysth. He’s such a wonderful man.” their guide looked up with a hint of longing, Thaedres may have even sensed of bit of romantic longing. “His quarters are not to far from here, they are glorious and of his own design. Just like everything here at The Dregvosh.” Thaedres wanted to roll his eyes and scoff.

 

“You seem quite fond of the man.” Paik said, more polietley than Thaedres would have.

 

“We all love the warden, he treats us wonderfully, well those of us not imprisoned.” The small framed man turned to smile a horrid smile at Thaedres.

 

“You all love him? What, is he terrible at his job? Every prison i’ve been to or heard of, they speak about the warden like most people speak of warlords, or slave masters.” This time Ugeil spoke to the man, he was much older so the experiences he spoke of hinted at truth.

 

“Oh no, he’s a fantastic warden, fair and just, not afraid to do what needs to be done to show these animals what they’re worth. Warden Kaysth is special, he knows how to treat us well while still running the most efficient and grand prison in the world.” The feeling of despair in Thaedres grew slowly, the utter admiration this man felt for the warden was nothing but a bad sign for his time to come. After another minute they reached a modest door at the end of the observatory. The little man walked up to the door and wrapped it with his fist three times in quick succession.

 

“Come in,” The voice was cooling and smooth, the polar opposite of the terrain surrounding this place. The small man pushed the brown wooden door open to reveal a sight Thaedres was not expecting. The room was small, and modest, like the front room to a apothecary. His desk was brown wood, not stained, not carved, just a plain wooden desk standing in front of massive glass pane window.

 

“Good afternoon Warden Kaysth, here are those Galavadrens and their leaders letter, prisoner in hand and all.” The man’s voice was so teeming with excitement and willingness to please, sugar water nearly poured from his mouth.

 

“Afternoon, Jeal. And thank you, you may leave us now.” He was a handsome man, square jawed and black of hair. His eyes were striking green and his face was as symmetrical as a statue, Thaedres had seldom seen human’s with features as sharp and defined as these.

 

“Of course sir! Could i bring you anything? Some fresh water? A charcuterie perhaps?” Jeal said as he started to step through the doorway.

 

“No no, i’m fine. Leave me with our guests.” His words were just as friendly as before but with a newfound finality. The door closed quickly behind the little man as he hurried away, the warden guestered to some seats around the room. “Please sit.” The two men pulled their chairs up and sat down, Thaedres stayed where he was. Still not a solid opportunity, he could take the three of them easy without a weapon but the rest of the prison was another story.

 

“Thank you, i’ve got to say warden, what's with this room? We just walked across a hall fit for the grandest of palaces and now..”

 

“Now your in a normal, modest room. It’s quite the contrast yes, but you’re not here to talk about my chambers.” The same final tone was was tied to his words. “In your Countess's letter she said this was the prince of the fabled Thuusain warrior clan. That was falsified obviously.”

 

“Nothing she said was falsified sir, this is their prince. Just look at him, he’s the prince alright. If you had seen him on the field you would not say such things so brashly.” Ugeil seemed to take offense to the warden’s dismissal of his countess’s words.

 

“Yes he’s the spitting image of an elf, and and elf prince at that. But we’re he the real prince, you would not be escorting him so casually. Tales of their skill in battle are more legendary than the Arcanine they ride, and the two of you do not seem, let’s say, capable.” Thaedres tried to hold in a burst of laughter, he was looking down and holding his mouth to cover his wide smile. He was in a terrible way but the way the warden spoke was brilliant.

 

“Shut up you!” Ugeil spun around to strike him, the man wasn’t tall enough to reach his face so he had to settle for a blow to the gut. Thaedres tensed his stomach and braced for the blow, after the tonic, his muscles were back to their original strength. 

**CRACK**

 

**“** AHHH!” Ugeil shouted and waved his clearly broken hand around like a limp fish.

 

“To be fair warden, i could have killed these two at least two dozen times since entering your prison. But where would it have gotten me?” Thaedres said wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

 

“Ah, so maybe you are the real prince.” The warden said. Paik had gotten out of his chair and stood at Thaedres ready to fight, he and the warden still made eye contact. “Sit down sir, i’m sure you wouldn’t have any more luck than this one here. In Fact the two of you can leave us.” Ugeil scowled for a second before nodding to Paik.

 

“Here,” The troll faced man tossed the bag of coin to the warden with his unbroken hand. “Our countess said to give you this too.” He muttered something under his breath as he gripped the handle of the door angrily and pulled it open. “C’mon paik.” They walked away speaking quickly to each other with vicious tones.

 

“Come prince, sit down.” He waved politely to the chair Paik had been sitting in. “We’ve much to discuss.” 


End file.
